A Whole Other Journey
by Idontgiveaflyingfuck
Summary: What if Winry Rockbell, wasn't the only Rockbell child? What if she had a twin? A sister? Follow the story of Kathryn Rockbell and her adventures with a certain blonde-haired shorty. Summary sucks. Better one inside. First FMA Fic, don't kill me. Ed.E/OC Rated M for a reason in later chappys. Title sucks as well, I know...
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this is my first FMA fanfic, so don't yell at me if it's shit.**

**Winry actually has a twin sister who joined the military at a young age. bla bla bla. that's the best I can give you without ruining the story.**

**This story actually came to me in a dream. I had just finished FMAB and I dreamt this up. I wrote most of it down, 37 pages of notes if you were wondering... and now I'm writing it full out. **

**If you are one of my readers from Surprise, Surprise... no I did not forget about the story. I've just been focused on this one because I wanted to get those notes written down before I forgot the whole damn thing.**

**So, without further adue, (or however you fucking spell it,) I present this retardo fanfic.**

All was quiet to Kathryn Rockbell.

The slum on the outskirts of Central City was peaceful when one thought about nothing. Kathryn's eyes were glazed as she stared at the miniature city that would soon become a battlefield.

The uprisings in Central had started a while ago, an organization rising against what they thought was a corrupt military. The uprisers had donned themselves in the military uniform, but instead of the original blue, they changed it to blood-red.

The organization had called themselves The Red Coats, what Kathryn thought was for lack of a better name.

Someone bumped into her, bringing Kathryn back to reality. The entire squad wandered through the slum looking for any signs of attackers.

"Is this your first battle?" The man asked her.

"Yeah, I'm not sure as to what I should be doing,"

"I've been in a few. You just need to be carefull, keep an eye on your surroundings, and try not to kill anyone from your side. You should be fine otherwise,"

"Thanks,"

Then, all of a sudden, they were surrounded.

"Get ready to fight." He whispered.

Kat pulled her sword from the sheath on her back. The blade was easily four feet long and a foot wide made of steel. The man gaped at it.

The Red Coats stood motionless around the group, swords drawn. "Surrender now, or else we will paint this slum with your blood," a man said.

The leader of Kathryn's squad drew his sword. "So be it,"

Everything happened fast. The Red Coats charged the group and started attacking.

Kat was unsure of what to do. Everyone was engaged in combat. She watched people fall, mostly Red Coats. Some of her own fell.

She closed her eyes and breathed. She heard a shuffle come from behind her. Her eyes snapped open and she turned around, raising her sword to meet another. The man had a red uniform and an angry gaze in his eyes.

"You seem a little young to be here. Why don't you run home and play with your dolls?"

Kathryn growled. "I don't play with dolls!" she cried as she swiped her sword across the man's chest. The blood sprayed all over Kathryn, her blue military uniform now crimson.

She wiped the blood off her face with her sleeve and ran to her next target. As she ran, Kathryn looked to her left, and saw one of her fellow soldiers get killed by the man who spoke earlier. She abruptly turned and ran towards the man, her sword poised to strike.

He fought back, easily having more experience than Kathryn, and smashed her sword against a wall, causing it to shatter.

Kat's eyes went wide, her long blonde hair hanging in her face. Her whole body shook as she looked the man in the eyes. He gave a small smirk and raised his sword. Kathryn closed her eyes and waited for the sting of the sword entering her body. But nothing came.

Instead, a large tremble came from the ground before a large fist made of stone punched the man and sent him flying. A small stone fell out of his pocket as he flew and crashed into a far away building. She looked around her until her eyes landed on a very familiar red coat. She smiled and picked up the stone, then ran, jumping over a collapsed wall.

She drew a circle in the sand, adding runes and lines where needed, glancing around occasionally for attackers. Once she was finished, she slammed her palms into the sand. A large flash of light came from the ground as a handle, then a blade arose. Kathryn grabbed the handle and continued pulling the sword until she was at her full height and the her sword was fully out of the ground.

She jumped back over the wall and dove into the battle. She raised her sword and jumped from fight to fight, slicing and defending where needed. At last, she shoved her blade through the last Red Coat. She pulled the blade out of his stomach and dropped it.

She let out a sigh of relief and look at Ed. She smiled and began to make her way past, what looked like, the wooden frame of a house, over to him.

Out of nowhere, something whizzed past Kathryn's face and stuck into a wooden beam. She looked to her left to find a female Red Coat with long black hair and a devious smile on her face. She held three ninja stars in her hand and poised to throw.

Kathryn sparred a glance at Ed to see what he was going to do. The woman caught the look at changed her aim in the direction of Ed.

"No!" Kathryn cried out. She ran and jumped in front of Edward. She raised her left arm to shield her face.

The woman threw the stars with deadly accuracy. On lodged itself in Kathryn's right thigh, another in her sternum, and the last one into her left arm. Someone called out and stabbed her thought the heart.

"Kat,"

"If I didn't think to cover my face," Kat started as she pulled out the star in her sternum. She muttered something about it being a little to left. "I would have a ninja star in my head. I don't think either of us want that,"

She pulled the star out of her leg and the one in her arm, wincing as the last one came out.  
"Are you okay?" Edward asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't think you would be here. Where's Alphonse?"

"I was actually assigned to this battle. Al didn't want me to go, so I snuck out knowing that you guys would need my help. Imagine my surprise when my "little sister" was here battling,"

Kat laughed. "How can you call me little? You haven't grown since I saw you-

Her words were cut off by a growl coming from their right. "Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. I'm going to kill you for slaughtering my men," A large man with gray hair stepped out from behind a beam, pulling out his sword.

The man rushed forward, the stars on his uniform shining in the light. Kathryn had no time to think.

"Die, Fullmetal Alchemist!" the man shouted.

Kathryn jumped in front of Ed once again, the man's sword going though her side and coming out through her back, grazing Ed's coat. She leaned forward from the impact, getting a good look at the man's shoulder. She began to laugh.

The man became fearful of Kathryn. _Why is this girl laughing when I just dealt a lethal blow? _The man backed slowly away from Kathryn.

"Three stars and a thick band. You're the leader of the Red Coats. You cowardly," Kathryn grasped the hilt of the sword lodged in her side, "wimpy," she wrenched the sword out of her side with nothing more than a blink, "pussy. How dare you call them your men when you were so scared that you made someone else lead them and hid in the background until all looked safe." Kathryn ran at the General, slamming him into the wooden beam and driving the sword into his stomach. "You sicken me. It's no wonder you lost."

She stepped away from the man now slump against the post. She winced and placed a hand on her side, blood seeping in between her fingers. She turned around and gave a small smile to Ed, blood coming out of her mouth and falling off her chin, before she fell to the ground, and everything went black.

* * *

Ed sat in the hospital chair next to Kat's bed. He hadn't moved for days, only leaving the room to pee or when Al practically dragged him down to the mess hall to eat. Kathryn hadn't shown any signs of waking anytime soon.

Ed grabbed her hand and rubbed her knuckles. "Why did you have to do that? I should be the one protecting you, not the other way around," Edward sighed and brushed the hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear.

The steady beeping of the monitor beside her bed echoed through the silence of the room. With each beep, Ed thought that it seemed as if Kat was getting further and further out of reach. While Ed was in his thoughts, he didn't notice the beeping slowly increase in pace.

Soon, there was only a steady stream of noise and doctors began to rush into the room.

"Sir, you need to leave," a nurse said as she ushered him out of the room.

"What? Why? What's going on?" Ed asked as he fought to stay in the room.

"Sir, please. You have to leave," she said with a final shove. Ed stood outside the room, not knowing what to do, or what was happening in the room. So, he began to pace.

* * *

Kathryn opened her eyes to a white room.

Or, what she thought was a room. It looked more like a void.

"So, what are you going to give?" a voice asked.

Kathryn jerked her head around. "Who's there?" she called out.

"I'm surprised you didn't see me," the voice whispered.

Kathryn looked around again. She saw nothing.

"Look to your right, you stupid human,"

Kat jerked her head to the right and jumped. The outline of, what looked like, a small boy sat cross legged on the floor, if you could call it that. Kathryn slowly backed away from the figure that had suddenly appeared. Her back hit something and she jumped, not remembering seeing anything when she looked around before.

She turned around and her gaze was met with a large pair of double doors with massive carvings and alchemic circles and runes. Kathryn backed away until she was halfway between the door and the sitting figure. She sparred a glance at the figure before focusing her gaze back on the door.

She studied it for sometime before her stare turned into one of pure horror.

"So, you finally figured it out. I say, human, it took you long enough,"

Kat began to shake. "That-that door. Ed told me about it. That's my door. And if that's my door, that makes you…"

"That makes me the keeper of the Truth. Also known as God. But I prefer Truth as you have been calling me," Truth stood and walked over to Kathryn. "Now, piece it together human. If you are seeing god, and you didn't perform any human transmutations that I know of, then what happened to you?"

Kathryn's eyes went wide. "No. No, no, no, no. No. I can't be dead. I just- no. I'm not dead. No,"

"But you are. Quit trying to deny it. If you need proof, look down,"

Kathryn did so, and what she saw was not what she expected. She saw the scene at the hospital. Ed was fighting to stay in the room as doctors circled her. "Ed…" Kathryn's knees gave out from under her. She collapsed hard on the ground as the image disappeared. "No, I can't die. Please! I can't die! He needs me!"

"Well, like I asked before. What are you going to give?"

"I don't have anything to give-" She stopped her words from finishing themselves. "Well, what are you going to take?"

"Hmmm…" Truth wondered about this. He crouched down next to Kathryn and got real close. "How about an I owe you. You see, I know all about your future. So I know what you will lose in the near future. And I do mean, _near_ future,"

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see," Truth said as black tendrils slipped around Kathryn unnoticed. They tugged on Kathryn before she could utter another word and pulled her though her door. She didn't see much, but what she did see was amazing. So many things entered her mind that she didn't think she could keep up. Her head felt like it was about to explode as she watched. She tried to close her eyes to no avail.

Then, she was back in the void and blinked. She turned back to Truth and stared.

He gave a smile. He now had a human right arm, left leg, and if she looked closely, she could see organs.

"Ed's arm and leg. Give those back!"

"Ah, ah, ah," he said as he waggled his finger. "I can't give them to you, even if I wanted to. Now, I think you've spent enough time here," He flicked his left hand, and Kat could have sworn she saw something on his forearm.

Then Kathryn jerked awake in her hospital bed. The door had just shut to a screaming Ed and everyone was shocked she was there. "Nothing's changed," she whispered.

All the doctors left the room once they were sure she was fine. Kathryn fell asleep before Ed could come though the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here you go my lovelies! The next chappy that I know you all have been _dying _to read.**

**Okay... maybe not. Knowing my shit work you are probably all dreading this. But hey, this brings me enjoyment so you can all go fuck yourselves.**

**Except for those of you who actually like this. Then here is a metaphorical cupcake for your awesomeness. *Hands cupcake through computer screen***

**So here we go! Chappy 2 of the-****story-that-I-couldn't-find-a-good-name-for!**

**Also, forgot to do a disclaimer. (whoops) This amazing series belongs to the awesomely cool Hiromu Arakawa!**

**(P.S. Kinda a filler chapter for what is to come... *Said ominously* Read at your own risk)**

* * *

Kathryn woke up the next day. Ed was sitting in his chair and was asleep on her bed.

Kat chuckled and smiled at the sight. She played with his hair a bit before tucking it behind his ear. "Ed…"

"I'm not hungry Al. Go away," he mumbled.

Kathryn gave another chuckle. "Edward…"

"No, Winry. I'm not going to school today…" he said swatting the air above his head.

She sighed and poked his face. "Eddy,"

Edward sat up and rubbed his eyes. "How many times must I tell you, Kat. I hate it when you call me Eddy-" He stopped rubbing his eyes and jumped up. He looked at Kathryn who was now full-out laughing.

"Eddy, you haven't changed a bit,"

"Well, I can't say the same for you, Kathy," he said, emphasizing the name as he said it.

Kathryn gave a low growl. "Don't call me, Kathy," She said the name with disgust.

Ed gave a laugh. "I was wrong, you're still the same," Ed moved and sat on the edge of her bed. "But still, I never knew you were in the military. When did you enlist?"

"When we were eight, I decided I would join the military. When they told you I went to camp, I actually went and signed up for the military when we were, what, eleven? I made sure that I came back home that fall when you burned down your house. Then I went back and worked at East City in Mustang's division.

He actually helped me out. He put in a good word for me, same with Hawkeye. Seems they remembered me," she said with a smile. "But if he ever found out that I said anything like that, I swear to god I-" her words stopped abruptly as she remembered Truth. She gave a shudder at the thought of the being who called himself God.

"Kat, you okay?"

"Yeah, peachy keen," she whispered.

Just then, the door opened. Edward turned to the door, his mouth dropped. Kathryn's eyes widened until she was sure they would fall out.

"Good morning. I'm glad to see you awake, Ms. Rockbell," The Führer walked through the door.

"S-sir!" Kathryn saluted King Bradley. Edward bolted from his spot and did the same.

The Führer smiled and waved them down. "No need for that. I came here to check up on you,"

Kathryn was speechless. "Th-thank you sir!"

The Führer smiled and strolled over to the window. "Now, about my visit. I would like to talk to you about the battle with the Red Coats," He turned around and stared at Kathryn. "All the people I've talked to said you, Ms. Rockbell, are the reason we won,"

Kat and Ed were shocked. _The reason we won? That's absurd, _she thought. "With all do respect, it was a team effort,"

"Many said had you not been there, they would have died. Accept the praise, Ms. Rockbell. With talent like that, you should be climbing the rungs faster than before,"

Edward looked at Kathryn. "I never asked you what rank you were…"

"Second Lieutenant,"

Ed stood abruptly from his seat. "Second Lieutenant!" If he had been drinking something, it would have surely made itself across the room from his mouth. "Just how good _are _you?"

"According to those she fought with last week, very," The Führer walked over to the bed and sat down on the end. Kathryn stiffened uncontrollably. "I hope you don't mind, but we took the liberty to look at your sword. Many of the men said it looked very big against you and wondered what it was like to wield it.

I saw that sword of yours, Ms. Rockbell, and may I say that it is very impressive. I was amazed that you could even hold it, let alone use it in battle,"

"E-excuse me?" Kathryn was flabbergasted. She was still shocked that the Führer was in her room, but now that he was complementing her on her sword. She feared she might faint again.

"Well, it seems that everyone took a turn with your sword. All could lift it, but each one dropped it before they could swing it, saying it was too heavy. Only Major Armstrong could lift it and swing it. He even threw it, but it didn't go very far.

And according to the others, you moved around the battlefield fast enough to save most of them and kill most of the Red Coats on your own,"

"Well, it's true that I ended up killing most of them, and I guess it's true that some of the soldiers could have been a few second from death before I showed up. But I do believe that everyone could lift my sword if I remade it. It was heavier than my original one because I had to make it quickly,"

"Well that means you're even better than we believe, for if you moved that fast with a heavier sword, imagine how fast you could move with your regular sword.  
Which brings me to why I am here. I want you and Fullmetal to battle tomorrow on the parade grounds. Have a nice day," He smiled before leaving the room, not even giving them enough time to salute.

"Fight? Tomorrow? Your injuries aren't even fully healed!" Ed shouted.

Kathryn sighed. "They will be. Ed, get me a medical alchemist. And where is my jacket?"

"I put it in the closet," Kathryn raised her eyebrow at him. "I saw you put something in it,"  
"And you didn't look at what it was? Damn, you really have grown up. Mentally, not physically,"

Ed gave a growl at that. "I have too grown,"

"It doesn't look like it. Now, hand me my jacket and go find an alchemist,"

Ed tossed her jacket to her and left. She dug into the jacket and felt the stone. She sighed sadly and looked at the door. "Sorry, Ed. This comes first,"

* * *

Once Kat was healed, she went to Ed's room the next day. "Yo!"

"Now what?"

"I want you to make me the clothes you're wearing," she stated, tossing the black and red fabric she brought with her at him.

"Wha?"

"I want you to make me your shoes, pants, shirt, inner jacket, and top jacket. Oh, and your gloves. In my size. Right now. And I'm not going to tell you why," She moved around Ed to his back and pulled out his braid.

"Hey! What was that for?"

Kat placed a hand where his hair ended and nodded her head. "No reason," she said as she retied it.

Ed sighed as he clapped his hands and transformed the fabrics into the clothes she asked for. "Put on the jacket and make sure I got the size right,"

She put on the jacket along with the shoes and smiled. Perfect. You're the best!" She grabbed the other clothes and her shoes and ran out the door.

"What was that all about?" Ed muttered to himself.

Kat ran down the hallway and into her room. She slammed the door and stripped. She put on the pants and shirt and the shoes. Then she walked over to the mirror. She framed her face with her hair until it looked just right. Then she grabbed the scissors on her dresser. She measured her hair to where it was on Ed and took a breath. She gathered her hair and cut it. A good foot was now missing and she smiled.

She braided her hair and tied it back. Flipping it over shoulder, she walked back to the pile of clothes. She put on the black jacket and the red coat and grabbed the white gloves. She walked back to the mirror and put them on. Hands on hip, she looked herself up and down.

"There's something missing," She tapped her finger to her lips in thought as she looked herself over again. "Ahah!" she exclaimed. She took off the gloves and got her hands wet with the water on her bedside table and grabbed some of the hair in front. She crushed it in between her hands and pulled up, creating the antenna that Ed used to make himself seem taller.

It flopped over. "Dammit. My hair is still too long," She grabbed the scissors and cut the hair around her face until it was perfect. She tried the antenna once again and it stayed.

She looked herself over in the mirror once more and nodded in satisfaction. A perfect replication of Edward. Well…" She looked down. "Except for those. But I can't do anything about them,"

She walked out of the room and down to Ed's. She got the occasional nod from fellow soldiers. _I bet they have no clue. Muahahaha. _

She made it to Ed's room and walked through the door. Alphonse was sitting on the bed, Edward no where in sight. The water was running in the bathroom so she assumed he was in the shower.

Alphonse looked over and stuttered, pointing at her, then the bathroom, then her again. Then, he gave up and screamed.

Ed came rushing out of the bathroom, holding the towel wrapped around his waist. "Al, what is it?"

Al pointed and Ed looked over at Kathryn. His towel slipped from his grasp and fell on the floor.

It took everything in her, but Kathryn managed not to change her expression. Internally, she was laughing her ass off. What she did do, however, was lean up against the wall next to her, crossing her arms and legs. She looked at Ed, then her gaze traveled down to his toes, then she brought it slowly back up. Then, she gave him a small smirk.

"Ed… I'm liking what I see," she said smoothly.

Ed immediately turned seven different shades of red as he picked his towel up off the floor and wrapped it back around his waist. "Kat… I'm going to finish showering. Feel free to stay and make yourself at home," and with that he ran back into the bathroom.

Kathryn snorted, breathed in loudly, and burst out laughing. She put her hands on her knees and tried to remember how to breath. She kept laughing until she fell on the floor gripping her sides. "No! It hurts!" she screamed as she continued to laugh.

When Ed finally came out of the bathroom, Kat was still rolling on the floor, laughing, gripping her sides, and now crying.

"Kat, it wasn't that funny," Ed said.

"Oh, but it was! You should have seen your face!" she said, standing up and wiping the tears off her face. "First, you were shocked at how I was dressed, then you were so embarrassed that you turned beat red!" She patted her clothes and fixed the hair that had fallen in her face. "Oh, now my sides hurt," she sighed. "Oh come on, Ed! Lighten up. I bet Al thought it was funny. Not as funny as I found it, but still pretty damn funny,"

"Why do you look like me?"

"I thought we could mess with their minds for a bit. I thought it would be fun,"

Ed thought about it. "Yeah, I guess it would be fun. I can already hear them, "Which one's which! I can't tell!" Yeah, I like it,"

"Good, I thought I was going to have to beat it into you. So what we'll do first is stand there and let them wonder. Then once you nod, we will both go down and start drawing a transmutation circle. Once I finish mine, I'll nod at you. You will stand and shake your head. I pull my sword out of the ground, and once I take aim at you, change your auto-mail plating into your little sword thingy. Then we will fight,"

"Hmmm… Sounds good to me," Ed tossed on his coat and gloves. "Let's go kick some ass," he offered his hand.

Kat smiled at him. "I would love to," She grabbed his hand and the three of them walked out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again my lovelies!**

**Okay, so I just finished transferring all of my notes into the real written thing. YAY!**

**Bad news is, I have to come up with a plot now. Great...**

**Sooooo... if in a few chapters I don't update for a while, don't worry. I'm trying my best.**

**So read and REVIEW please. Heaviness on the review. please... please. leave me a review...**

**So get to it! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!**

**(For those of you have read this chapter, skip ahead and read some of the last part because I had to change it up a bit to fit it with later chapters. Sorry for the incovinience... :( Anywhoo, this is the final version of this chapter. Carry on.)**

* * *

Kat stood at the door that would lead to the parade grounds.

They were lucky. Everyone turned out for the battle, so they didn't run into anybody on the way down. Though, she did have a hard time convincing the man in front of her room that she was indeed Kathryn Rockbell.

Kathryn laughed and shook her head. Soon, she would have to go out and fight Ed. _Oh, how I hope I don't hurt him, _she thought with a smirk.

Taking a breath, she opened the door and walked outside. She walked to the edge of the ring that had been formed for the fight. Ed was already waiting for her. She stood motionless as the crowd's yells for action, bets, and the revealing of the real Ed echoed across the grounds. She smiled, and Ed gave a nod.

They both crouched down, and the crowd went silent. They began to drawn in the sand. Kathryn, a real transmutation circle. Edward, just random lines and shapes. He occasionally glanced at Kathryn until she gave him the nod.

Ed stood up and shook his head. Kat touched her circle and pulled out her sword, taking aim at Ed. He clapped his hands together and extended the plating of his auto-mail into a fine point.

The crowd cheered when they finally knew who was who. Kathryn looked at Bradley, who simply gave a nod. She turned her gaze back to Ed and stood, loosening her grip and letting the tip fall to the ground. "Now, don't think you can go easy on me just because we know each other. I know when you're not trying,"

"I wouldn't dream of going easy on you. I've been waiting for a good reason to kick your ass for months!"

Kathryn gave a mischievous chuckle. "Well then, let's get started,"

Ed dashed forward, his arm rearing to slice when Kathryn brought her sword up to block it. "I thought you got better at this, Ed," she said innocently. She knead him in the stomach, knocking him back a few steps. She kicked him in the chest, sending him back at least four feet. She stabbed her sword into the ground, crossed her legs, and leaned on her sword. "Nope. If anything you've gotten worse," she stated.

Ed stood back up and rushed her again. This time, Kathryn grabbed her blade and swung herself around, tripping the advancing Edward, stood, and pulled her blade out of the ground.

"Edward… You're underestimating me…"

Edward lunged and they continued at this for another hour. In the end, Ed held Kat's right wrist to keep her sword from coming down on his head. Kathryn held his blade to keep it from plunging into her stomach.

They had both ditched their jackets, Kat for more mobility, Ed because they were in tatters. Edward's forehead had a large cut above his right eye, another on his cheek and a large gash on his chest. Kathryn had a large cut across her cheek and several large gashes across her arms and legs.

They looked at King Bradley, hoping to get the okay to stop. But they weren't happy with what he said.

"I forgot to tell you? This was a fight to the death, silly me. Carry on,"

Kat's gaze turned to one of horror as Ed loosened his grip.

"Go ahead,"

Kathryn clenched her teeth and looked away, her body began to shake. "No, Ed. You have a promise to keep,"

And with that, she dropped her sword, grabbed Ed's arm with both hands, and rammed the blade into her stomach. She fell forward into his arms in complete darkness, but not before she heard him screaming her name.

* * *

She woke up in the hospital once again.

"God, I'm sick of this damn hospital," she muttered.

She sat up and clutched her stomach. The events of what she assumed was the previous day came back to her in a flash. She shook her head and looked to her left, where she assumed Ed would be. He wasn't.

This began to worry Kat. _Something's not right. He would be here._

She moved herself to the edge of the bed and touched her feet to the floor. Pushing herself off the bed, she wobbled and crashed into the wall. "Dammit," she said holding her stomach.

She pulled her hand away and saw red. She looked down to see a splotch of red on her shirt slowly growing bigger and bigger. "Fuck," she muttered, shaking her head.

She stumbled forward into the hallway, walking blindly until she thought she found Ed's room. Several others offered to help her, but she just waved them off. Kathryn began to panic until she broke out into a run, stumbling along the hallways and leaving a trail of blood on the walls and floor.

Kathryn gave up and burst through a door that looked familiar and passed out from the loss of blood.

* * *

Kathryn woke up in a hospital bed, again.

"I swear to… Truth, I guess," she said as she went to rub her eyes. She couldn't move. She looked down to see several straps tying her to the bed. She struggled against the straps to no avail.

"God dammit. Why is this happening!" she cried out to no one. She struggled some more against her binds, but gave up and slumped against the bed.

"Okay, Kat. You know there is a way out of this. There is always a way. I bet Ed could find five ways to get out of this before he could blink, so you can at least find one,"

She closed her eyes and began to think. She tapped her hands against the soft fabric of the bed spread. Her eyes shot open as she shouted, "That's it!"

She wiggled her hands with much struggle until they were nearly touching. "Let's hope this works,"

She touched her hands together in a restricted clap and touched the strap. It snapped in half and she smiled. "I guess there's one positive side to seeing that creep,"

She clapped her hands several more times until all but one of her bindings were off. She clapped her hands once more and bent forwards to undo the straps on her feet when she heard a throat clear.

She looked to her left to see Bradley with his sword drawn and at his side. "I don't know how many times I have to try to kill you before you stay dead," He lifted his sword and examined it. "I guess I'll have to do it myself," he said. He raised his sword as Kathryn clapped and undid the final straps. His sword came down on the bed as she rolled out of the way off the bed.

"Why do you want me dead? As part of the military that serves you, I have a right to know," Kat said bravely.

Bradley looked at her for a moment before releasing a small sigh. He began to walk around the bed as he spoke. "Well, since I'm going ot kill you, I might as well tell you why. You see, Envy has been trying to talk to Fullmetal for some time now. But he can't, because you keep getting in the way. So if I get rid of you once and for all, we can get to Edward,"

"Envy? You're working with him? That means you're a-a-a-a-

"A homunculus? That would be correct. My name is Wrath," Bradley took a look at his watch. "I should really wrap this up. I have dinner plans," He was standing in front of her now. "Goodbye Ms. Rockbell,"

He raised his sword and brought it down before Kathryn could blink, but she managed to get out of the way. Bradley continued swiping at her and she continued to jump back until her back hit the door.

She swung at Bradley with her left hand, but he caught her wrist and plunged his sword into her upper arm. Kat screamed out in agony as he twisted the sword in her arm. She glared at him as she kicked him in the stomach, sending him a good five feet from the door. She wrenched the sword out of her arm and watched as it fell limp to her side.

With no options left, Kat ran out of the room. She ignored the insistent throbbing in her stomach and ran to Ed's room. She burst through the door and locked it, then turned around to find Alphonse sitting on the bed.

"Al, where's your brother?"

"He's at your grave…"

"My grave?" There was a loud bang on the door. "Never mind, we've got to go. Out the window. Tell me on the way there," she said, opening the window and ushering Al out of it. Bradley kicked the door as Kat shimmied out and dropped down. She looked at the window to see Bradley standing at the sill before running after Al.

"We have to get there as fast as possible. Let me in," she said as she removed the front plating of Al's armor and hopped in. Al began to run and Kat repeatedly bashed her head against him. "Wish I had a pillow. Now, what was this about my grave?"

"Führer Bradley told us that you stumbled into his meeting room and died of blood loss, saying there wasn't anything he could have done for you. The funeral procession was yesterday, brother hasn't come home yet. Seeing as you didn't have any family in the national cemetary, or anyone who we thought you would want to be buried by, they just put you in a random hole and put a headstone at the front. Brother was furious."

"Oh…"

They ran a few more blocks. "We're here," Al said, removing the front plating.

Kathryn stumbled forward through the cemetary until she saw Edward. He sat, kneeling in front of a grave, his head down. His clap echoed through the cemetary as he extended the plating of his auto-mail. Kathryn could see him say something as he place the blade to his neck.

"Ed…" she whispered. She tried to go faster to no avail. Ed raised his head to the sky. "Edward," she said a little louder as he said something else. She stopped at a random grave, placing her hand on it to keep herself upright, smearing blood all over the stone. "EDWARD!" she cried out as he closed his eyes.

His eyes darted open as he looked over at her. He stood and ran over just in time to catch her. He laid her head on his lap as a small amount of blood seeped through her lips.

"Kat, you're alive…" he said with a smile. He looked down and saw the large amount of blood seeping through her clothes and gathering on his. "Oh god… The blood. There's got to be something I can do,"

Kathryn simply shook her head. "There's nothing you can do. I'm a lost cause at this point," she rasped out. Her breathing was labored as she struggled to stay with him long enough. She turned her head away from him and coughed up blood. "I know you two promised that no one else would get hurt because of you, but you're going to have to make an exception," she said with a small smile. _I want him to remember me smiling._

"No, no. Hold on, we'll get you some help," he choked out. He smoothed her hair away from her face. "Save your energy so you can live,"

She shook her head again and looked at him. "You need to watch your back, both of you," she said, sparring a glance at Al. "If you two show up where I'm going anytime soon, I swear to god, I will find a way to send you two back here so I can haunt your sorry asses, got it?" She gripped her stomach and remembered. "Oh, and one more thing," she dug into her pocket and pulled out the stone she had earlier. "It's a philosopher's stone. I want you to use it to get as much of your bodies back as you can. I'm not sure how much power is left in it."

She placed her hand on Ed's face and lifted herself up. She gave him a small kiss, feather light, barely considered a kiss, smearing blood on him. "I love you, Edward. When we see each other again, you better be old and wrinkly with a fully functioning arm and leg,"

He looked at the stone in his hand and shook his head. "No, I'm not going to lose you," With that, he clapped his hands with the stone and placed them on her stomach, repairing her internal organs and stopping the bleeding. The flash was large and blinding.

Kat just chuckled and shook her head. "You fool, it won't work. I'm already gone,"

When Ed was done, the stone shattered and sparkled against the crimson that spread across Kat's stomach. She reached up and hugged Edward with the last of her strength and whispered in his ear, "You were just too late. I'm sorry," and she died.

Ed held her close and let a single tear slip from beneath his lids. "Kat? Kathy? Kathryn! KATHRYN! Wake up! Please, wake up!" he pleaded with her corpse. "Please, I love you," he whispered into her ear, so low that even Alphonse didn't hear him.

* * *

Kathryn was back in the white void. She looked around and found Truth sitting in his regular criss-cross position.

"You know, I figured I would go somewhere else when I died, not back to you," she shook her head and looked at her door. "Oh well, maybe you're here to guide me to my next destination," she muttered. "Well, what door do I get to go through now?"

"You're not going to bargain anything to go back?" he asked.

"Nope, I've lived my life. I did what I really wanted, I'm ready to go. It will take him a while to get used to having to watch his own ass for once, but they can manage without me,"

"Really?" Truth stood and walked over to Kathryn. "Because the way I see it, he tried

killing himself when he mearly _thought_ you were dead, and you stopped him that time. Now that you are dead, and he has undeniable proof in his arms, what's stopping him from trying it again? Certainly not you, because, well, you know this one. No, there are some very… shall I say, _interesting_ plans revolving around you two. You both need to be alive.

So I'm going to send you back. For a price, of course,"

"Of course. So what will the price be this time?"

"The same one I took earlier. But it will be payed later,"

"It's not my first born child, is it?"

Truth chuckled, an odd sight. "No you stupid human. I won't take your first born. I will help you out though, just this once,"

"What, you going to give me Al's body back? Or maybe Ed's missing limbs?" she asked, pointing to Truth's right arm.

"No. I will let you see your door again. Just this once, no cost,"

"Well, you better take good care of those limbs then. I want them in pristine condition when we get them back. Same goes for Al's body. I don't want them malfunctioning when they get back,"

Truth began to laugh. "Oh, you stupid human. Bossing me around like that. Most of your kind cower in fear before me, even your little boyfriend did. I like your spark. I knew it was a good idea to keep you around," he said. He gave his arm a wave and the door opened, the black tendrils coming out and wrapping themselves around Kathryn.

"Now remember, eyes wide open. Maybe you'll learn something useful this time,"

The tendrils yanked on Kathryn and pulled her into her door. The images flew by Kathryn so fast, she could barely keep up. She was tempted to close her eyes, but she knew she couldn't. Once she was able to blink, she was back in the void, her back to her door.

"Now remember, take good care of the things you've taken from us,"

Truth walked back up to her and patted her with his left arm. "Don't worry. I will… Scar,"

She was looking at the developing flesh on his arm when he said this. Before she could question what he meant, or what that was about on his arm, she was sent back into the black.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again, people of fanficion. net! It is I, your lovable master. *Dies of uncontrollable laughter***

**I love being a total jackass and posting these when you're all asleep, don't you?**

**So, for those of you who ignored my message before, I changed the part where Al said that Nina was buried in the cemetary, to Kat being put in a random plot because she had no one to be buried by, because I need Nina for later chapters. So there.**

**Now, I have started writing my story into the manga, so for those of you who have read it, it will essentially be the same. But that's like ten chapters from now and it will be all different because Kat is there and what not. So yeah...**

**Also, how do you like Kat? I try to make her badass, and every character that I make a badass winds up totally fucking insane, like limbs flying, organs falling out of their ass insane. So keep in mind that a lot of shit will be happening to her and she really won't even flinch. No once... Poor poor Kathy, *Gets slapped upside the head by Kat for calling her Kathy.**

**No please please please please please please please PLEASE leave me a review. I can't stress how important this is. Cause if by the end of this thing I have at least 75 reviews, I get twenty+ $s from my friend off a bet. Now, I understand that half of you are going to asses and ignore that now so I loose, well fuck you.**

**One last thing. I'm getting better at drawing my manga, so in a while I might be able to draw up some stuff for this like characters, fave moments, crap like that. So if you want to leave a review of what your fave moment is or what you would want me to draw, I'll do it. I might end up making a facebook page for it or something so I'll tell you when that happens and post them up there.**

**Damn, this thing is long. Well, you all know who this belongs to, yada yada yada, blablabla, kiss kiss.**

* * *

She woke up with her head in the crook of Ed's neck with his fingers buried deep in her hair.

"How many times… do I have to die… before I stay dead for good?" she whispered.

"Kat?" he asked, pulling back and looking into her eyes.

"Ed… Ed, I'm tired," she said with a yawn. "I'm going to take a nap now. Take me to a hospital would you?"

"Kathryn, stay awake. Don't fall asleep,"

"I'm not going to die this time. I swear. I'm just tired from dying again. So if you would, take me to a hospital. Thanks, you're the best," she said as she fell asleep in his arms.

Ed shook his head and he and Al rushed her back to the hospital.

* * *

Kat woke up, for what she hoped would be the last time in a while, in a hospital bed.

"Good morning. I'm happy to see you're finally up," the nurse said.

"How long have I been out?"

"About two weeks Ms. Rockbell. You know, at the pace you're goin', you're going to have your own room by the end of the month," the nurse said with a chuckle.

"Funny…" Kat said. She paid no attention to the nurse who was now blabbing on and on about something irrelevant. Kathryn looked to her right and felt for her arm. She thought she felt skin with her hand, but she felt nothing with her arm. She looked at it, and it was still there. She sighed sadly.

The nurse was still talking. "… and The Führer was here. You must be really important if he came to see you,"

"Wait, what?" Kathryn jumped out of bed and grabbed the nurse by her shoulder. "The Führer was here? What did he want? What did he say?"

The nurse looked panicked, her eyes wide open at the suddenness of Kat. "Well, nothing much really. He said he wanted to speak with you, but I sent him away saying that you needed your rest and that you weren't even up yet," She placed her palm to her cheek and shook her head with a smile. "Gee, I hope I don't get fired for tha- Ms. Rockbell!" the nurse called after Kat as she ran out of the room.

Kathryn ran down the familiar hallway and burst into Ed's room. "No time to explain, we've got to go," she said as she came through the door.

She packed Ed's suitcase and tossed it at him.

"Kathryn, what's going on?" Alphonse asked her.

"I'll explain later, but right now, we have to go," she said as she looked around the room once more. She clapped her hands together and changed her clothes into a blue tank top and black shorts with a pair of black boots. She looked down at her outfit. "Not what I wanted, but it will have to do,"

"You just transfigured without a transmutation circle! How?" Al exclaimed.

"I've seen that creepy bastard twice now. I would expect I could," she said. "I can't explain it right now. We have to go," she said as she ushered them to the window. They heard shouts from the hallway and she turned back to them. "Right now," she said as she pushed Al out the window. She turned to Ed with a serious gaze. "Do I have to push you out the window too?"

Ed shook his head and hopped out the window, followed closely by Kat. "Where are we going?" Ed asked as they ran from the building.

"Train station. We're going home," she replied. _I need an arm that works, _she thought looking at her left arm. _And personally, I don't feel like operating on myself._

They got to the train station and hopped on the train as it was departing. Going inside, they grabbed their seats. Before they could ask Kathryn what was going on, she fell asleep against the window.

* * *

They got off the train and walked the road in silence. None of them had spoken a word since they left Central. Ed was ready to burst, but Al figured that Kat would tell them what was going on when she was ready.

The house was in sight and Kat smiled, happy to be home. They walked closer and Den came out to greet them.

"EDWARD!" came a shout. A wrench flew towards Ed's head, but Kathryn reached out and caught it by the handle. She threw it back without even looking, up to the blonde haired girl. It wized past her head, causing her hair to fly up, and stuck itself in the window pane.

Winry smiled at them from her balcony. "Welcome home you guys,"

They walked inside to be greeted warmly by Granny. Kathryn hugged her with her good arm. The pounding of footsteps could be heard as Winry ran down the stairs and flung herself at her twin sister. Kathryn fell over with Winry on top of her.

"Kathryn! You're so weak! You used to be able to hold me up when I did that. What was the point of going into the military if you just get wimpier?" Winry asked playfully.

"I don't know Win. How much have you been eating, you seem a lot heavier." Kat said as she poked Winry's thigh.

"Hurtful!" Winry said with a laugh. She looked at Kat's arm, which was bent at an odd angle. "Kat, what's up with your arm?" she asked as she picked it up. When Kat said nothing, she let go of it and it flopped to the ground. "Kathryn?"

Kat turned her head away from the gaze of everyone in the room. "I need your help Winry. You and Granny,"

"Kat, why would you need our help?" Then it doned on her. "Oh no, Kathryn. What happened?" she asked as she stood up. She offered her hand and pulled Kat up as well.

"I'll tell you about it later," she whispered. She sparred a glance at Ed to see him staring at her arm with wide eyes.

"Kat… Your arm…" Ed couldn't find the words to say.

Winry pulled her into one of the back rooms. Kathryn tugged off her shirt and layed down on the bed. Winry just shook her head. "Kathryn, what happened? You need to tell me,"

"A lot of shit, that's what happened. I died twice, Ed almost killed himself, and my arm is officialy out of use. Where do I even begin?" she asked.

"Why don't you start with the first time you died?" Winry asked with worry.

"Well, that means I have to tell you about the uprisings in Central,"

So she told her everything, from her part in the uprisings, to her coming here for a new arm. Lying about how she lost her arm and telling her sister that she had a gut feeling that Bradley was out to get her, all the while Winry was getting everything ready.

"Kathryn, I highly doubt the Führer is out to ger you. I mean, come on. What reasoning does he have to kill you?"

"I don't know, but my gut is never wrong! Never never never!"

Winry sighed and began to strap Kathryn to the bed.

"Just to be an asshole and declare war on him, I should send him the bill for my auto-mail," Kat said with a snicker.

"Kat, you're not going to declare war on King Bradley. And who said you're paying for the auto-mail?"

"I did," she said as she propped herself up on her elbow. "I know how much these things cost, I grew up here if I remember correctly. I'm not going to put you out because I'm family," she scolded as she let Winry put the strap on across her chest. "And don't even think about trying to give me a discount. I'll have to aim for your head next time I throw a wrench at you if you do. I intend to pay in full," she said with a nod.

"Now, when I was on the train, I determined that I have feeling up to the middle of my shoulder. You might as well lop the whole thing off, giving me the same cut as Ed. Then you would know how to make the arm already, just a different side,"

"Kat…"

"Just get on with it before you wuss out,"

"Kat, how can you be so calm about this! I'll be sawing into your nerves, cutting off your entire arm! Why are you so calm?"

"Because. If I'm not calm, then you can't do anything to help me. And if you can't help me, then I can't help Ed and Al. I need to help them, Win. I need them just as much as they need me,"

Winry shook her head at her sister's words. "Do you want a towel to bite on or anything?"

Kat shook her head no. "Just lock the door,"

Winry sent a sad look at her sister as she crossed the room and locked the door. She went to the work bench and grabbed the saw that she prepped for cutting off Kat's arm. She let a tear roll down her cheek as she placed the blade on Kat's shoulder. "Here?"

Kat looked over and nodded. She turned her gaze over to the other wall and took a deep breath as Winry turned on the saw.

* * *

The sound of the saw echoed through the house.

"Hey, what's that noise?" Edward asked.

Granny just sighed and looked at the floor. "It's the saw, Ed," she said sadly.

"Brother, why would a saw be-

Al was cut off by the sound of an ear-splitting scream. Ed bolted out of his seat and ran to the door. "Kathryn!" he shouted, pounding on the wood. He tried the handle but it wouldn't budge.

"Kat, you have to quit squirming or else I can't get a clean cut!" Winry said as she turned off the saw.

Kathryn stopped her squirming and steeled herself the best she could when Winry put the saw back on her arm. She tried with all her might not to scream but they kept slipping out.

Ed continued to pound on the door, the wood beginning to splinter.

Winry turned off the saw again. "Ed, stay out of here! Don't come in!"  
"Like hell I won't!" he shouted back.

"Ed," Kathryn managed to say. Ed could barely hear her, her breathing heavy and thick. "Don't come in,"

Ed slumped against the door, still pounding on the frail wood.

"You're doing good, Kat. Just a bit more," Winry soothed.

The saw turned off and Ed stood up. He kicked down the door and burst in the room. The sight he saw almost made him lose whatever was still in his stomach.

Blood was all over, splattered on the two sisters, pooling on the floor, and dripping from the severed arm and saw-blade that Winry held in her hand.

Kathryn chuckled and shook her head. "Eddy, I told you not to come in. Don't you ever listen?" Kat asked sadly. She was holding the blanket to her shoulder in an attempt to slow the bleeding. From her torso down, she was still strapped into the bed.

She looked at the arm the Winry held in her hand with a sad gaze. Then, it disappeared.

"Kathryn…"

"That cheeky bastard. He could have taken the damn thing when I was there. Would have saved us a lot of trouble,"

"Kat?"

"It's my payment for seeing the truth… Mother fucker. I'm gonna kill him if I ever see him again,"

"Ed, if you're going to be in here, start cleaning up the floor while I find the bandages,"

"It's great to know that the floor come before me, sis," Kathryn said with a weak smile.

"Well, if your blood is anything like you, it won't come out if I wait to clean it. You're that stubborn," Winry said playfully, trying to make light of the situation.

Ed started to clean the floor and left when Winry told him to. She wrapped her sister and cleaned the floor in an hour.

They walked out together, Kathryn looking much better than when Ed saw her last.

"Kathryn, how are you feeling?" Al asked with concern.

"I'm just fine, Al. Thanks for asking," she replied with a smile. "Yo! Granny," she shouted as she walked into the kitchen. "How about a cup of Joe?"

"The first thing you're getting before a cup of coffee is some real food. Dinner will be done in a bit,"

"Sounds good," she replied with a smile. "Where's Ed?"

"Brother went to visit mom. He took Den with him. I'm going up later,"

She glanced out the window and turned her gaze back to Granny. "I'll go get him,"

"Not in that condition. You just got done with surgery and could collapse at any second-

She was cut off by the puppy-dog look sent her. She growled and waved her hands. "Oh, all right. Just be carefull,"

Kathryn smiled and headed for the door. "Kathryn!"

She turned around to her sister holding up a tank top. "You forgetting something?"

Kat growled and caught the shirt as Winry threw it at her. "Dammit, Ed's rubbed off on me. You men have it easy. It's not fair," she said as she walked out the door, throwing the tank on with some difficulty.

She walked down the worn road, saying hi to her old friends as they passed. Most of them asked what happened to her arm, she simply told them that she lost it in the uprisings. After a while, she made it to the small cemetary. She found Ed standing in front of his mother's grave.

Den gave a small bark to signal that she was there. She walked over and rubbed his arm, looking at the headstone. "How are you doing?"

"I think I should be asking you that," he replied with a small smile. "Why didn't you tell me about your arm?"

"I honestly thought you knew," she lied. She didn't even know why she was lying. She sighed and stared forward. "My auto-mail should be done in a week, then I can get my surgery. I have to stay here for a year, that doesn't mean that you and Al can't leave,"

"Kat-

"Ed. You and Al have a goal. I'm not going to slow you down. When you are ready to leave, you can. Just remember I'll be here waiting for you to come get me,"

Ed just smiled. "Are you sure you can do it in a year?"

"Of course! I've been hanging around you so much I could be your double. If you don't watch it I'll do it in less time than that and then I'll come and hunt you down just so I can say I told you-" She was cut off by Ed's lips on hers. He pulled back and looked at her expectantly. "…so," she finished.

"I didn't want that hanging over us while we were here,"

"Neither did I," She grabbed his collar and rubbed it in her hand. "Ed?"

He brushed the hair that was her antenna out of her face. It was constantly falling in her eyes. "Yeah?"

"I-I meant what I said, back at the cemetary in central," she said quietly, turning her attention to her shoes.

Ed placed his finger under her chin and lifted her gaze back up to him. "I love you too. I always have," He kissed her again. Light, but passion concealed in it. Her hand ran its way up his chest to his neck, pulling him closer and deepening their kiss. Den barked at them and they broke the embrace with some reluctance.

She grabbed his hand and swung their arms. "Do you want to stop by the old house before we head home?"

"Sure," he said with a smile. They walked off hand in hand with Den trailing closely behind.


	5. Chapter 5

**It is I. No need to cry anymore...**

**Aww... a touching scene on the top of a hilltop... How nice... *sighs with want* Damn I wish I had Edward as my boyfriend...**

**"Yeah, well he's mine now bitch. I don't plan on loosing him anytime soon,"**

**KATHRYN! Where did you come from! Wait *thinks* If you are here, then where is Ed? *Looks around hopefully.**

**"Grrrr..."**

***raises hands in surrender***

**So the first part is a near smut experience... You know, that would sound better with a smutgasm, not a nosmut. Hmmm... I will ask Shewiththehazeleyez later... when she is actually up. But for those of you who don't like smut too much, TOO FUCKING BAD! You read this for a reason I mean be truthful, how many of you read the story for the plot? But seriously, read the whole thing cause the convo is very important.**

**Sooo... I shall quit ranting and raving and let you read my totally awesome fanfic. *snort***

* * *

After dinner, they all sat in the livingroom, reminiscing over the past. Granny went to bed early. Winry followed soon after, claiming that she had to get up early to start on Kat's auto-mail. Al left saying he wanted to polish his armor while he still could. This left Ed and Kat alone.

They sat in silence for the longest time before Kat piped up. "I think I'll go to bed,"

"I'll walk you to your room," he said as they walked up the stairs.

They stopped at her door and she smiled at him. "Why thank you, good sir. I don't think I could have made it back home unscathed if had you not been here,"

"I am glad that I could have been of service to you, good lady," Ed replied.

She smiled up at him and bit her lip. "Ed… Would you stay with me tonight?" she asked shyly.

He answered by opening the door and following her into her room. She climbed into her bed and Ed followed suit. She gave him a kiss that quickly turned into more as he climbed on top of her. He twined his fleshy fingers with hers and placed his metal arm where hers should have been. His gaze turned to one of sadness at the thought of her having only a lump for an arm.

Kathryn sighed. "Maybe we should hold off on this for a while,"

Ed layed back down on his side and pulled her close. "We'll stay for a month after the surgery. That will give you enough time to heal. I still don't feel right about leaving you though,"

"It's fine, don't feel bad. You could just go sight-seeing, or do some missions for Mustang-

"Yeah right," Ed snorted.

"Hey, you became a dog of the military. You have to take responsibility. When was the last time you did your paperwork?"

"Uhhh…"

"Exactly. You could use this time to do it. Or, you could help out Hughes in investigations. I'm sure he could use your help, seeing as he's always slacking off,"

"Hey, he's got good intentions. He visited you twice while you were in the hospital,"

"Which time was that?"

Ed chuckled. "The first time," He heaved a sigh. "You scare me sometimes,"

"How so?"

"Well… You've been in a hospital three times, you lost all feeling in your arm, you cut it off, and now you are getting auto-mail and you've barely made a peep in the whole process. If anything you're pushing yourself and it scares me. I don't want to have to lose you a third time." He brushed her hair out of her face again. "Just promise me you'll take it easy."

"Ed, you should know by now that I'm not the kind of person who takes it easy. I'm like you,"

"There's no arguing with you is there?"

She shook her head no.

"Just, take it easy…er. You don't have to go slow, but don't go high-speed either,"

"I get it. I'll go medium," she said, placing her hand on his cheek. She pulled his head down and kissed him.

He pulled back and closed his eyes. "Kathryn…"

"Just because we can't do _that,_ doesn't mean we can't do _this_," she said. She gripped the back of his neck and pulled him close. She brushed her lips against his until he succumbed to her, smashing his mouth to hers.

He spent the rest of the night memorizing the scent, the feel, the taste of Kat.

* * *

It was a week later and Kat was in the operating room.

"Now Kathy, you're sure about this? Once we start, we can't stop,"

Kathryn was laying down on the table with a towel on her chest and some pj shorts. She growled at Pinako. "Granny, how many times have I told you, NOT TO CALL ME KATHY! Yes, I'm sure of it! I can't sit and do nothing. I have to help Ed and Al. And I can't do that with a missing arm!"

Ed sat on the bench outside to the room with Alphonse. He shook his head at Kathryn. "She shouldn't be doing this. She shouldn't even be here. It's my fault. She wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for me…" He shook his head and placed it in his hands. "It's my fault. It's all my-

"Brother," Al placed his hand on Ed's shoulder. Ed looked up from his hands at his younger brother. "She made these decisions on her own. She went to the military, she knew the stakes. She made the decision to chop off her arm and get auto-mail, knowing how much pain it caused you. She knows. I'm not saying it's her fault, but I'm saying that she is old enough to make her own decisions. And you are not to blame for any consequences that fall upon her," he soothed. "She was with me, right where you are sitting, when you got your auto-mail. That was when she decided to join the military, so she could help us. Help you. It is no ones fault, brother, and it most definitely _not_ yours,"

Ed didn't respond. He just looked at the door they had banned him from entering until the end of the operation.

"You ready, sis?" Winry asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be,"

And with that, they started the operation.

* * *

Kat wasn't sure how long she'd been there.

She lost track of time during the operation. She thought it was somewhere around three hours, but she couldn't trust that right now. Her thoughts were skewed and worthless, all jumbled around in her head, the pain of the surgery messing with her mind.

Ed was out in the hallway with his hands covering his ears, trying to block out the sound of the large screams Kat let loose on occasion. She was trying her best not to, they just slipped. Al sat next to him, trying to console him, envying his brother for having the ability to block out al least some of the sound.

The table containing most of the tools knocked over as Kat screamed out. "I can't do this! I can't do it anymore!"

"Kat, we're almost done hooking up the rest of your nerves to the base. We can't stop now. You'll have to tough it out a bit longer,"

Kat just started reciting alchemic formulas. It didn't last for long, her thought kept scrambling themselves before she could focus on just one.

"You know, Kat. Most-

"Yes I know, Granny!" she screamed. "Most fully grown men are howling out in pain at this point," she hissed. "But if Al can go through what he did, and Ed go through this twice, I should be able to do it once," she ended with a gasp and a growl of pain.

"Kathryn, we would still consider you solid stone if you shed a few tears. You look about ready to burst,"

"No!" she screamed. Ed uncovered his ears at this. He was intrigued. "When he burnt down his house, he asked us why we were crying. Before he left, I promised him that I wouldn't cry anymore," she choked out. "I won't let this ruin it!" she cried out, followed by a howl of pain. Ed recovered his ears and shook his head.

"I'm almost done, Kat!" Winry cried out.

Kathryn started to scream again, but she snapped her mouth shut. She started to bite her cheek furiously. The blood filled her mouth and leaked out between her cheeks. She spit in out and stopped chewing.

"Winry, we need to stop. There's blood coming out of her mouth!"

Ed jumped up at this, Al grabbing his elbows to keep him from barging through the door.

"Don't stop! It's from my cheek. Just hurry and finish,"

"Granny, get me the arm!"

Granny went over to the table and handed Winry the arm. "I know you've done this with Ed so I won't lie. It hurts,"

Kat closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "Go ahead," she whispered. There was a large zap of pain and she gasped loudly.

"Wiggle your fingers," Winry told her.

Kat wiggled her fingers, she thought. "Well?" she asked with her eyes still closed.

"Success," Winry said, high fiving Granny.

She opened her eyes and looked at her arm. She lifted it and made a fist. She smiled and turned green. "Ohh… I don't feel to great,"

"It's the after effects. Ed!"

He came rushing into the room immediately. "How is she? Is she okay?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Granny said.

"Hey…" Kat sighed. She waved at Ed with her new arm. "Now we match, sort of…"

"Ed, take her to the bathroom and clean her up. Then bring her to her room so she can rest," Winry instructed.

"Why can't you do it?" Ed asked her.

"Well, currently I'm fighting just to stay upright considering I just performed life-threatening surgery on my sister. Plus, she left us with a fairly large mess to deal with,"

Ed looked down and finally noticed the large amount of blood on the floor.

"Haha, the one time I get off chores and it's the worse mess imaginable. Suckers,"

"You better watch it or else we'll make you clean this up," Granny scolded.

Ed moved over to her and placed a hand on her lower back and one under her knees. He lifted her to his chest and tried to ignore the fact that she was half-naked in his arms. "Ed, slow down. It's all spiny in here," she said, putting a hand to her head.

"Don't worry. You're fine. Just last until we get to the bathroom okay?" he said worried.

He walked past Al down the hallway into the bathroom and put her on the toilet. He turned on the water and filled the tub. He turned to her and blushed slightly. "Um…"

"I really don't care if you see me Ed. I just want a bath," she sighed. The towel covering her had slipped considerably and was barely hanging onto her breast.

"Alright," he choked out, blushing furiously. He undressed her and placed her in the water, making sure the arm didn't get in the water.

Kathryn let out a soft moan as she sat in the water. "So, how do you recommend washing with the auto-mail?"

Ed took a seat on the toilet and cleared his throat. "I wash with it, but I think since you just got it on, you shouldn't get it wet," he said with a glance her way. The water was already murky with her blood. He clapped his hands and cleared the water for her. He quickly directed his gaze back up to her face.

She chuckled. "You are such a gentleman, Ed," she commented. She ducked into the water and washed off her face and her hair. She took some water into her mouth and swished it around and spit it out. Ed cleared the water again.

"Well… I, uh…"

"Ed," she patted the side of the tub, "sit down. If you really wanted to be a gentleman you wouldn't be sitting above me," she finished with a smirk.

He quickly slid to the floor, back to the wall, one leg bent with his head resting against the wall. Kathryn chuckled at how he so eagerly moved. "Well I can't help it if I don't want things to be awkward in here. I have to make sure you don't fall asleep and drown,"

"Ed," She grabbed onto his collar and yanked him over the tub, smashing her lips into his. Ed deepened, placing his hands on either side of her head, gripping the edges of the tub and holding himself above the water.

Kathryn started to lift herself out of the tub with her auto-mail when she winced at the weight.

"Take it easy. Don't be too rough," Ed scolded as he pulled away.

"But Ed…"she started. She looked down, biting her lip. She turned her gaze back to him with the most innocent eyes she could muster. "I-I like it rough,"

Ed's eyes widened at her remark. "I'm," he squealed. He cleared his throat with a cough. "I'm going to wait outside. Call if you need anything,"

She laughed as Ed left the room, loving the reactions he gave her. She cleaned up and sat in the tub until the water got cool. She stood from the tub and stepped out onto the floor. Her legs gave out from under her and she fell. "Shit," she whispered.

"Kat? You okay in there?"

"Yeah, just a little wobbly," She grabbed the towel hanging on the rack and dried her hair, then wrapped it around herself. She stood once again and tried a step, falling unsuccessfully "Dammit,"

"I'm coming in," Ed called from the hall. He walked in and Kat stood up again.

"I'm fine," she said taking a step. She fell again and slammed her fist into the wall. "God dammit!" she screamed.

"Kat, its fine. Here, let me help-

"No! I can do this," she yelled. She stood up and took a step. "See?" she asked, taking another step. She wobbled and fell sideways into Ed's arms with a growl.

He scooped her into his arms with difficulty. "Stop struggling,"

"Put me down!"

"If I put you down, we will be down here all night. Just let me carry you upstairs. I'll let you walk from there,"

Silence followed them. "Fine," she said leaning close. "I'm only letting you carry me because I'm tired. Nothing else,"  
"Okay,"he replied. He carried her upstairs to her bedroom door and stopped. "I'm going to put you down now,"

"Just carry me in asshole," she growled.

He chuckled in reply and brought her into her room. Placing her on the bed, he turned around and began to walk out the room.

"Ed, wait," she called out.

He turned around to look at her. "What do you need?"

"Will-will you stay with me. At least until I fall asleep,"

Knowing the effects of the auto-mail surgery, he smiled in reply. "I'll stay all night," he whispered. He pulled the chair out of the corner of the room and sat by her bedside, holding her hand until she fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**No need to fear! Idontgiveaflyingfuck is here! Again... shit.**

**I have decided that on the morning of Sunday every week I shall post the new chapter around this time. Okay. **

**So this is a chapter I enjoyed writing. For those of you who have virgin eyes, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING READING MY STORY! IM OBVIOUSLY GOING TO HAVE SMUTTY SMUT IN HERE! **

**I'll admit, my smut is not the best *hears gasps* yes it's true. I admitted failure. Look what you people are doing to me.**

**Anywhoo, if you don't want to read the half smut, too bad. There is a very important convo in there and you have to read it. So there. The real smut is at the end and I want you to read it. So good luck.**

**Yes, so carry on. Lotsa reviews plz. Can't stress it.**

**Kiss kiss.**

* * *

A month later, Ed and Kat went to bed after a long day of her rehabilitation.

"Ed…" she whispered. She kissed him and pulled him closer. He climbed on top of her and broke away.

"Kathryn… Are you sure?" he asked.

"I'm positive. You're going to be leaving any day now. It's been a month. Knowing you, you're not going to tell me when you leave, so I'll wake up with an empty bed. I don't want us to leave off without this,"

He gave her a small sigh. "Al and I are leaving tomorrow morning, before everybody wakes up,"

She sent him a sad gaze. "Even more reason to do it now," she whispered.

He intertwined their fleshy fingers, then their metal ones, holding her down. He gazed into her eyes with hunger, realising that she was right.

He kissed her ferociously, forcing his way into her mouth. She clawed at his back leaving large red marks. He drank in her scent biting his way down her body, eliciting moans from her when he hit certain spots. They spent the whole night, memorizing the feel, the sound, the taste, the very essence of one another.

* * *

Kathryn woke up the next morning. Her legs throbbed painfully, but in a good way. She smiled and flipped herself over onto her side. "Ready for round three?" she asked as she opened her eyes to an empty bed. She felt the blankets, they were cold.

She became sad as she looked around. A small necklace sat on the pillow beside her. A small, black key with red stones set throughout it, all hooked on a black chain.

A note sat underneath it. She picked up the necklace and read the note.

_Kathryn,_

_I made this for you before I left. The stones are fragments of the philosopher's stone I used in the cemetary. I made it so you would think of me while I'm gone. Me and Al will be back exactly one year from the day you got your surgery._

_I'll see you in 11 months._

_-Edward_

She put on the necklace and admired it. She read the note again, choking on a sob. "No. I won't cry," she got up and dressed, then headed downstairs.

She sat at the table with Winry in her favorite pair of ripped jeans and a black tank top. Her sullen gaze was turned to the window as she twirled the key the Ed gave her. She sighed for what must have been the hundredth time.

"That's it!" Granny shouted as she slammed her pipe down on the table. She stood abruptly, causing Kat to look over at her with wide eyes. "I looked at the train schedule this morning. The first train for today leaves in twenty minutes. Go catch him. I will not have you moping around here for a year,"

"But Granny, she'll never make it," Winry said.

"Run,"

Kathryn nodded and dashed out of the door without even putting any shoes on.

Winry stared after her sister. "Granny, she won't make it,"

"If she doesn't come home with a smile on her face, I will quit smoking. She will make it. She's strong, just like him,"

Kathryn took a breath at the top of the hill just before the station. A suit of armor sat on a bench with a shortie in a red coat. The train rolled in as they both stood. Al moved forward to the train as Ed pulled out his pocket watch.

Kathryn ran down the hill as fast as she could, reaching the platform as Ed shook his head and put his watch back in his pocket.

"Edward!" she cried out. He turned around to see Kathryn jump at him, catching her in his arms and stumbling as he held her close.

"Kathryn,"

"Edward you asshole!" she said as she pounded her fists into his back. "You left without saying goodbye. Do you know how much that hurts?" she cried. She squeezed her legs around his waist in a death grip, showing she wouldn't let him go anytime soon. "Granny yelled at me in the kitchen because apparently I was moping. You are the biggest asshole I know,"

Ed set her down with some difficulty and looked into her eyes. "Kathryn. I'm sorry-

"Sorry's not going to cut it this time. The only goodbye I got was last night, which was phenomenal by the way, and I'm not going to see you again for a year! You would really do that to me?"

He brushed the hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear. He looked down at her chest. "That necklace looks good on you"

"Oh, don't even try to sweet talk yourself out of thi-" She was cut off by a pair of lips. She deepened in desperation, whimpering when Ed finally pulled away.

"Kathryn. I love you. I though it would hurt you more seeing me leave. I never meant for you to get so sad that Granny would yell at you,"

"Oh Ed," The rest of her sentence was cut off by train whistle.

"Kid, you getting on or what?" the conductor asked.

"I've got to go," he whispered, giving her one last kiss.

"Ed, you better get better so you can finally win when you come back," she taunted.

He smiled as he boarded the train. Leaning out of his window, he pecked her cheek and asked, "What did you say when the whistle went off?"

The train began to move before she began to speak. She ran after the train to the end of the platform. Ed's head was still hanging out of the window as she shouted, "Edward! I love you too!" she called out with a smile. She waved at him as the train moved further away.

"One year! I'll finally kick your ass!" he shouted back.

"You're on!" she called back as she left the platform and walked home. She walked through the door with a smile on her face.

"Looks like I get to keep my pipe," Granny muttered.

"So, did you make it in time?" Winry asked.

"Winry, you're going to help me train. When he comes back, he's going to be stronger. There is no way I'm losing to that pipsqueak," Kathryn said with a determined smile.

They all laughed together.

* * *

Exactly 11 months later, Ed and Al walked up the stretch that lead to the Rockbell house.

"Al, can you believe it's been a year?" Ed asked excitedly, happy to be back.

"Yeah. You know brother, I bet Kathryn will be very happy to see you," Al said mischievously.

"You sure about that? I'm sure she was happy to see me leave," Ed scoffed.

"If you say so brother,"

A wrench appeared out of no where and hit Ed in the head, knocking him over. "Winry! What was that for!" he shouted in fury.

She let out a laugh and smiled down at them from her balcony. "Welcome home you two."

Ed walked inside followed closely by Alphonse. "So, where's Kat?" he asked immediately.

"I think Kathryn went out by the lake," Granny sighed. "He's not even here two seconds and he's already looking for her," she muttered.

Ed walked out to the lake where he and Al used to spar. He walked along the tree line, dragging his hand over the trunks. Without notice, he stopped walking and stepped to the side, then walked forward again. Kathryn landed silently on the ground where he was just walking and rushed up to him, throwing a punch to the back of his head. He turned around suddenly and caught his fist, her eyes widening in surprise.

She jumped away from him and growled. "I was so quiet!" she shouted.

"I heard the tree branch creak," he shrugged.

Kat walked to him and placed a hand on his cheek. "I missed you,"she said as she tripped him. She jumped backwards and laughed at him.

Ed stood up and took a fighting stance. When Kathryn didn't move, he rushed her and threw a punch.

She moved out of the way and aimed a left hook to his face. He easily blocked it and threw her a kick. Grabbing his leg, she twisted it, sending him to the ground. He swiped out his leg to trip her, but she had already jumped out of the way.

Ed stood up and she raised an eyebrow at him. He growled and ran at her again. She ran at him as well, but jumped and propelled herself off his shoulders with her hands. He turned around to see her with a hand on her hip looking smug.

"Come on, Eddy. You've had to get better than this in a year," she taunted.

He ran towards her again. She dodged left, but Ed predicted this. He reached out and snagged her wrist and twisted her until he had her arm pinned behind her back.

"Does this mean I won?" he breathed in her ear.

She breathed out a smirk and head butted him, spun them around and flipped him over. She sat on his stomach and pinned his arms to his sides. She smirked at him. "Not quite yet,"

They rolled around a bit until Ed was sitting on her legs with her arms pinned above her head. "How about now?" he asked.

He leaned down for a kiss when Kat kneed him in the stomach.

She chuckled as he let out an 'oof'. "Welcome back," she said with a smile. She kissed him and coaxed him to join in after a bit.

"Kathryn! Edward! As soon as you put your clothes back on you can come back inside. Dinner's done," Winry called out.

They both laughed as they stood and brushed the grass off their clothes. "I'll race you back," Kat challenged.

"You're on. You're going to eat my dust," Ed smirked.

"Considering I have to fully functioning legs, I think I'm going to win," she retorted.

"Ready?"

"Set."

"Go!" they shouted.

They started running back to the house, neck and neck the entire way.

"Granny, it's going to be a close one. Who do you guys think will win?" Winry asked.

"I hate to go against family, but I think the pipsqueak will win," Granny wagered.

"I think brother will win," Al commented.

"With his auto-mail, I made it light so I think he will win too. Sorry sis," Winry said, glancing back out the window.

They were neck and neck as they ran up the steps, Kathryn jumping up them. Winry opened the door in time for them to come rolling in, literally.

Edward landed on top of Kat. She raised her arms in victory. "I win!"

"No you didn't. I won,"

"No… I'm on the bottom. You pushed me and you landed on top of me, therefore, you came through the door last and I won,"

"No, you pushed me. We rolled remember?"

"Alphonse! Who won?" Kat yelled.

"I'm not sure," the boy answered.

"I think you two should call this one a draw because I don't feel like having my house blown to bits," Granny said.

Kathryn growled and Edward chuckled at her. He stood from the floor and pulled her up with him. They went and sat down at the table. They began to talk about the year they were apart. Ed talked about his and Al's travels, how they went to Liore and discovered fraud within the church. How they mostly traveled and did a few jobs for Mustang on the side. They went back and visited Youswell, everyone was doing fine. Went back to Aquroya, Clara was still running free. Kat laughed at how easily they were played the first time.

Kat and Ed went into the living room with two cups of cocoa and sat in front of the fire-place. Everyone else went to bed after dinner.

"Well, I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed," Kat said after she finished her drink. They went up stairs and stopped in front of her door. He pressed a small kiss to her lips.

Kat, having not been with him in almost a year, deepened it immediately. She pulled away slightly, her lips still touching Ed's. "Ed…" she whispered. She looked up at him with a gaze that she thought would tell him how much she needed him.

He must have gotten the message because he dove back into her lips, knocking her head back against her door. He reached behind her and fumbled with the door handle until he finally got it open. They tumbled into the room, barely keeping upright. Ed shut the door with his foot as they stumbled through the room to her bed.

Her knees hit the bed and she fell over, bringing Ed with her. They climbed up the bed, shedding off their clothing in the process. He kissed and bit her neck while his hands roamed her body, his auto-mail hand leaving bumps over her skin as she shivered at the cool metal.

She moaned as he kissed the sensitive spot near her ear, dragging her nails across his back. "Ed…" she moaned. "Enough with the foreplay," she growled as she ground her hips to his.

He quickly obliged by thrusting deep into her. She let out a gasp at the suddenness of it. He paused, letting her become accustomed to him before moving again.

He let out soft growls as he moved himself in and out of her, relishing in the feel.

"Ed…" she whispered, "f-faster,"

He increased his pace as well as the force of his thrusts. Kat met him easily thrust for thrust until soon she was quivering under him.

She called out his name, sending him over the edge with a grunt. He gave three or four more thrusts, riding out the pleasure with Kat until he collapsed next to her.

They lay there for a few minutes in silence before she pulled him back on top of her.

"I'm ready for round two," she said seriously, gripping his face.

"You will be the death of me, I swear,"

"Yes, but you will die exreamly happy," she replied with a smirk, bringing him down for a kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

**OMG I AM SOOOO SORRY!**

**It's been like a week since I said I would post and I never did! CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE MEEEE?**

**It's just that school is a fucking pain in my ASS! I mean it! I started high school! ITS A FUCKING PRISON! Compared to my middle school, it's a fucking paradise, but it's still a prison.**

**So to make up for my shamefullness, I will post now, and post on saturday late at night so it's like a sunday morning. Also, this is the longest chappy so far! So Extra long chappy AND an early posting. God, I must really love you guys.**

**And about the chapter. SOME SIRIUS SHIT IS ABOUT TO GO DOWN HERE! If this was a fucking movie, this is the part I would want to see in 3D. I wouldn't want the sex in 3D, that would be weird. I would want that on the bid screen though...**

**And if you have noticed the new picture on the front, that is explained in this and a bit later. I found it on Tumblr and when I saw it I was like, WHAT THE FUCK! Did someone read my story and make this for me? Wait... I haven't posted that much yet. SO IT WAS BY PURE CHANCE I FOUND IT? AYIIEEEE! *Fangirl squealing***

**So anywhooo... Lots o blood and gore. Yay!**

**So read on my lovelies! And you will hear from me very soon!**

* * *

They left early the next day to go back to central.

They had no idea where to go from there, and Kathryn had insisted on coming with them from now on. So their duo became a trio.

When they got to central, Kathryn rented out a room in her normal hotel. They went down the hallway to the room and Kat made dinner. Ed updated Kat on their search, having heard a bit here and there from Mustang, she knew what they were up to on a general basis.

Kat now stood at the sink washing their dishes. Ed still sat at the kitchen table while Al was on the couch in the adjacent livingroom. A hallway to the left of the livingroom led to the master bed, guest bed, and bathroom.

Kat sighed and gripped the sides of the double sink. "Ed?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

She took a deep breath, "I-I want to become a state alchemist,"

There was only silence. Alphonse had turned his attention to the now very interesting kitchen.

"You, what?" he growled.

She turned around and dried off her hands nonchalantly. "I want to become a state alchemist,"

"No. absolutely not,"

"Well why not?" she asked as she threw the towel down on the counter. "Ed, you can't do this all on your own,"

"Kathryn, they are my burdens to bear. Not yours. You don't need to be chained to the military."

"If you haven't noticed, Ed, I already am. I _am_ the military," Ed stood up and walked into the livingroom. "And as part of the military, I have a pretty short leash," she said following him. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. "If I was an alchemist, I could have a longer leash, and I could help you two instead of just being stuck wherever I'm stationed," She tried turning him around to no avail. "Ed, we both have burdens, but that doesn't mean we have to face them alone,"

"No," he said shrugging her off. "I refuse to make you apart of this more that you already are,"

"Ed! I'm as deep as I can go! If I was a state alchemist, I could have better protection! My alchemy would be amplified and I wouldn't have to sleep with one eye open anymore, I'd be with you!"

"No. I won't let you do this to yourself. Only one of us needs to be a dog,"

"Edward, you're not indestructible! You need someone to watch your back,"

He moved around her and she reached out for his hand. He yanked it away as if she had burned him.

"Ed why won't you listen to me? Edward!"

"I'm going out!" he yelled. He went out the door.

Kat winced as the door slammed shut. "Edward!" she called out as she reached for the handle.

"It's best if you leave brother alone for a bit," Alphonse said before she could twist it.

"But-

"He cares about you. A lot. He doesn't want anything bad to happen to you. He's trying to keep you as safe as possible. Neither of us want to see you as hurt as you were after the uprisings. Ed didn't sleep for days when you were in the hospital. Just give him some time. Brother still might not let you go, but you need to know that he is doing it in your best interest," he said, his words laced with wisdom despite his young age.

She turned around and walked to the hallway. She stopped at the entrance and looked partly over her shoulder. "Do-do you think he'll be back tonight?"

"Don't worry about brother. He will come back when he is ready,"

She nodded her head and went to her room. She tucked herself under the covers, looking at the large window in the room.

_Why must they have such large windows on the first floor? _She thought.

She would have gladly taken any other room but one on the first floor. Hell, she would have gladly taken the broom closet if it was on a higher floor. She never liked the first floor. Safety precautions for herself. _I guess it's just because I'm in the military… looking over my shoulder, all that bullshit… _she yawned and fell asleep.

* * *

She woke up to the door slamming open.

On instinct, she reached for one of five wrenches by her nightstand and threw it at the door. It stuck in the door frame next to Ed's head.

"Ed I'm-

He shut her up with a searing kiss, climbing on top of her after kicking off his boots. "The next alchemy exam is in three days. I don't want you to take it, but I won't stop you if you pass. I will help you study. I know it's short notice but-

She silenced him with another kiss. "Please don't walk out on me like that again,"

"I'll try not to," he said quietly. She gave him a stern look that had him a bit scared. "All right, all right. I won't. I promise,"

He kissed her again, sneaking his hand up her shirt. She pushed his coats off his shoulders and he shrugged them off, never breaking contact. The only time his lips left hers was when he took off his shirt and pulled hers over her head, tossing them somewhere else in the room. They wiggled out of their pants until all they had left was their underwear.

Ed kissed and dragged is tongue down her neck to her breasts, taking one into his mouth, kneading the other with his hand. Kathryn moaned at his ministrations, arching her back into him. She dragged his head back up to her mouth for another smoldering kiss. One arm was across his back, the hand entangled in his hair.

"Brother, Kathryn-

Kathryn's eyes widened as Alphonse walked into the room, thankful for the placement of Ed's arm. If it hadn't been where it was, Al surely would turn red, even if he was a suit of armor.

"Al, get out," she husked out.

"But there's-

"GOD DAMMIT ALPHONSE GET OUT NOW!" she screamed as she grabbed the second wrench on her nightstand and chucked it at the door. Al had just closed it and ran away as the wrench lodged itself in the wood. "Oh my god,"

"Remind me to never make you mad," Ed joked.

Kathryn pushed him off of her and sat up, pulling the sheet with her. "Guess we should find out what he wanted," she sighed. "Well, that ruined the moment,"

She began to run her fingers through her hair when Hughes burst through the door in his usual cheery mood. "I don't know whats got Al so worked up. I-" he stopped as he saw the state of Kat and Ed's undress. "Kathryn, nice bod-

Hughes got hit in the face with a wrench before he could blink, let alone finish his sentence. "GET OUT NOW!"

After Edward and Kathryn redressed themselves, they all sat in the livingroom.

"You know I was joking right?" Hughes asked, holding and ice-pack to his face. "I would never cheat on my darling Gracia or do anything to upset Elicia,"

"Hughes! Don't make me find another wrench," Kathryn groaned.

"Sheesh, you need to calm down a bit. Relax. You and Roy are just the same,"

"Where's my wrench. How dare he compare me to that arrogant, egotistical Colonel Jackass," she muttered, standing and looking around the room for anything that would be remotely painful if thrown. Ed grabbed her arm and pulled her back down to her seat on the couch.

"But as to why I am here. I heard Ed was snooping around for the alchemy exam. So Alphonse, you gonna take another crack at it?"

"So what? Now girls can't be alchemists?" Kathryn asked, standing up, fists clenched and fuming. Ed and Al swore that they could see steam blowing from her ears.

"No, I just didn't know you could do alchemy. Plus, as you well know, there aren't any female state alchemists," Hughes replied quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hughes, why are you here?"

"Well, I came to tell you. They changed up the exam,"

"What!" they all shouted.

"It's virtually the same thing. But the Führer has made some adjustments. The only time he ever came to an exam was to see Ed's performance, seeing as he was the youngest. Now he will be overseeing the entire thing each year.

Also, they added on a new event. There are more people chosen than normal in the practical skills, where you show what you can do. So now, the final category of the exam is, virtually, another practical skills test. You now have to go up against an official state alchemist and they judge you on how you do in an actual battle. Then the state alchemist is picked," Hughes explained.

"The Führer really is out to get me…" Kat muttered.

"Kat, what do you mean, the Führer is out to get you?" Ed asked worriedly.

"Ohh… I forgot to tell you about it didn't I?" she asked. She sparred a glance at Hughes before turning to Ed. "He knows about our… shall we say… predicament, right?"

"Yeah, he knows,"

"Okay, well you know how we've been running into Envy, Lust, and Gluttony? Well, I found Wrath, and he's the one who fucked up my arm. And the one who stabbed me in the arm, was Bradley. And he told me that he had been trying to kill me because Envy needed to get to you, and I had been keeping him from doing so,"

"But what does all of this mean?" Hughes asked.

She looked at Hughes with a solemn gaze. "It means that the Führer of Amestris is a homunculus."

"The Führer? That can't be. Kat, are you sure?" Ed asked.

"I'm positive. Unless I was in some sort of delirium and I lost my arm some other way, then I'm right,"

"Then everything goes so much deeper than we thought," Hughes said thoughtfully.

Kathryn stiffened.

"Kat, what is it?"

"Hush. I'm trying to listen." Everyone heard a faint rustle from the side of the apartment facing the street. "Ed, Al, go check the bed rooms. Hughes, stay out here with me incase they try to come at us dead on," she instructed, clapping her hands together and pulling a small dagger out of the wall.

Edward clapped and extended his auto-mail plating and led Al to down the hallway.

Hughes pulled out his push knives and stood with Kathryn to the door.

They heard a lamp break in the master bedroom.

"Go, I can manage," Hughes told her.

She nodded and headed for the door when someone burst through the hallway window. They elbowed her in the back slamming her into the wall, then smashed her hand against the door frame until she dropped the dagger. Her attacker put his arm around her neck in an attempt to strangle her. She kicked off the wall and smashed him into the adjacent wall.

The edges of her vision were getting fuzzy as she clawed at the man's arms. She quietly clapped her hands together and pulled another dagger out of the wall. She looked over to see Hughes knocked out on the floor with someone coming up behind him. She stabbed her attacker in the stomach and let him slump against the wall.

She coughed as the air entered her lungs painfully. She ran to Hughes and grabbed the push knife in his hand and sliced open the oncoming attacker's throat. Ed came out into the hallway as the attacker fell to his knees dead.

"You okay?" Ed asked as Kat turned to face him.

Someone came up from behind Kat, making a slight shuffle. She thrust her arm backwards over her shoulder, shoving the blade into his head. "Yeah," she rasped, her throat still burning. She saw someone come up behind Edward and threw the knife with pinpoint accuracy into his chest. "You?"

"A bit terrified of my girlfriend. What happened to Hughes?"

"Oh his attacker got to him and made his vision a little fuzzy. He's awake, he just hasn't gotten up yet," she said with a glance over her shoulder.

"Very perceptive, Kathryn. How'd you know?" he asked as he stood from the floor.

"When I grabbed your blade you were a little reluctant to let go of it,"

"Yes, well I was going to take the enemy by surprise…" he said with a look around. "But it looks like you handled it well. No wonder you're one of our best,"

A clank came from the guest bedroom. "You okay in there Al?" Kathryn called out.

"Yeah. All's clear," he replied walking out of the bedroom with a man under his arm.

"Kat, did you check our bedroom yet?"

"No. I was a little preoccupied," she said, glancing at the bodies littering the hallway.

They both changed their auto-mail and went inside. Kathryn glanced around the room. "Clear,"

Ed went over and checked in the closet. "Clear"

"Okay, I'm not risking anything," Kat said as she changed her auto-mail back into an arm. "Hughes, you're staying the night. We are all sleeping in here tonight. God, I really hate being on the bottom floor at the moment," she said with a glance to the window. "And large windows," she sighed running her fingers through her hair. "Al, do you want a chair to sit on?"

"No, I'll sit with my back against the door. Then it will be hard for anyone to get in, leaving the window as the only way to get in,"

"Good idea," She ran her fingers through her hair again. "Hughes, there are blankets in the closet. You can sleep on the floor next to the bed. Me and Ed can will take the bed,"

"Well now I won't be able to sleep. You two better keep it down,"

"Hughes, if you want to keep your tongue and maybe even your life, I suggest you shut up."

She ran her fingers through her hair again with a sigh. Ed grabbed her hand and she turned to look at him. "Kat, we're fine. Nothing is going to happen,"

"You're right. There's nothing to worry about," She glanced at the door. "Should we get rid of the bodies?"

"Yeah, I don't think the hotel will approve of blood stains on their carpets," Ed replied with a chuckle.

Kathryn and Edward went out and tossed the bodies out the window, the fixed all the broken things in the apartment. They went back into the room and everyone situated themselves after Hughes gushed on the phone to his wife. Kathryn had to slap the back of his head to get him to leave the phone.

"Night all. Sleep with an eye open," she said.

"Kathryn…" Ed said sternly.

She laughed. "Kidding,"

Then they fell asleep.

* * *

"Kathryn. Kathryn wake up,"

"Mmm?" Kathryn woke up to Al sitting next to the bed. She propped herself up on her elbow. "What's wrong, Al?"

"I heard something outside the window," he said worriedly.

"Oh, that's great Al. Go back to bed," she said with a yawn. She lay back down and shut her eyes. Then, what Al had said sunk in, her eyes snapped open and she bolted upright. "Outside the window, you said?"

"Yeah. It sounded like breathing. Not breathing, but like… panting,"

Her eyes widened and she shook Ed until he fell out of the bed. "Ed, wake up. We've got problems," she said. She moved down the floor and rolled Hughes until he woke up. "Hughes, get up. We've got company," She clapped her hands and pulled a miniature version of her sword from the floor.

They heard a twig snap and growls coming from outside the window. She breathed in deeply and faced the glass. "I have a feeling I know what's outside. You all stay back, this stays between me and Bradley. They won't attack you if you don't attack them,"

"Kathryn-

"Please, Ed. Just listen to me for once," she pleaded, taking a ready stance.

Something came crashing through the window, flying at Kat. She whipped the sword through the air and a very normal looking wolf landed on the left side of the room.

"Just what I thought. A successful combination of a human and a wolf. These are people synthesized with wolves. In other words, these are chimeras… I didn't think they were real until now."  
She turned back to the window to see multiple wolves jump through the window and surround her.

"What do you mean, you didn't think they were real?" Ed asked.

"Some rumors have been going around that there were successful chimeras being made in an underground lab," Hughes explained.

The wolves encircled Kathryn, she continuously turned around at the slightest movement. The wolves snapped their jaws at Kathryn's feet, but she didn't play chicken like they wanted her to.

"The rumor was that they made people into wolves, except instead of being human changing into half-human, half-wolf, they were able to create humans who could change into full wolves. People thought they were made for any upcoming wars,"  
"Are you the one they call Kathryn Rockbell?" A large wolf moved out of the ranks to face Kat.  
"Ed, don't even think about coming over here, got it?" she warned, sparing a glance and small smile to Ed. She poised her sword to strike the wolf. "That's me. Come and get me wolf boy,"  
Then, the wolves lunged, all at once. She managed to fight most of them off until the Alpha attacked her from behind. She fell under the weight of him, and the other wolves jumped in after her.

Edward went to lunge over the bed when Hughes and Al grabbed him. "Trust her, Ed. She knows what she's doing," Hughes told him.

The growling and screaming filled the room. Then, a growl that was not wolfish came from the pile. A clap sounded and sparks filled the room as the floor extended to points, skewering the wolves.

Kathryn was on her hands and knees panting. She put the floor back the way it was before falling over on her side. Ed jumped over the bed with no restraints this time. "Kat? You okay?" he asked. He looked down at her face, twisted in pain and bloody. Her hair was now red, as was the carpet. He went to lift her up but she pushed him away closed her eyes.  
"They got me good. I need to go into the bathroom though. I'll be right back." She said as she hoisted herself up against the wall and ran into the bathroom.  
Ed followed after her. "Kathryn?"  
"Fuck. Edward... It's really bad. Think twice before you come in here,"  
He walked in and nearly lost his dinner. She held a wet towel to her face and it was already soaked through. The sink was running and filled with blood droplets. Blood ran down her arm and her right shoulder sleeve was ripped open, exposing more cuts. Her hair was drenched with her blood and droplets were dripping into the sink from her chin.

"Kathryn, I need to take a look," he said as he grabbed more towels. They switched them out, dry wet dry for a bit until they were sure the bleeding stopped and the wound was mostly clean. "Ready?" he asked.  
"I should be asking you that. As you can already tell, it's pretty bad,"  
"I'll take my chances,"  
She pulled the wet towel from her face and Ed gasped. "Oh my god, Kathryn. I'm amazed you still have an eye left,"  
"That bad huh?" she asked. She brushed the hair away from her face and looking into the mirror. There were several medium cuts surrounding her right eye and one very large one right down the middle of it. She had a small one dragging from the bottom of her ear to her jaw, a few down her neck and two or three across her shoulder a quarter of the way down her arm. "Can you heal it? I know you know a bit of medical alchemy. You should be able to close it right?"  
"You underestimate me," he said with a smirk, trying to make light of the situation. _I won't be able to heal all of it, but hopefully I can heal her enough._ He though as he clapped his hands. She hopped on onto the sink and sat there as Ed healed her. "Oh shit. Kat, you have huge scars. It didn't heal fully. I'm sorry,"  
She washed her face and rinsed the blood out of her hair. She looked up into the mirror and sighed. "Well, at least I can see out of my eye, it's not all mushed together or anything," she said as she dried her hair and messed with her bangs for a bit. When she finished, her part was on the left and her bangs hung over her eye. "Well, I think I can pull this look off," She tugged some of her hair down in front of her left ear, then put the rest of it up in a pony tail. "How's my new look?" she asked Ed as she turned around with a smile on her face. She yawned then sighed and changed into the shirt that was hanging on the hook. "Come on, we need to sleep if I'm going to pass this thing,"  
"You're still going to do this? Even after what just happened?"  
"Of course. There's no way I'm going to let Bradley get the best of me. I'm not giving up so easily," she said determinedly.  
"You're crazy, you know that?"  
"But it's why you love me," she retorted. She went on her tippy toes for a kiss, but thought better of it and left the bathroom.

They went back into their room and she crawled back into bed. "Okay. I think we're fine for the moment. Just to be safe though, we will go as we were. Night," she said.

They all went to bed in silence, no one questioning Kathryn. They couldn't decide if they looked up to her because of her ability to cope, or pitied her because she didn't feel.


	8. Chapter 8

**As promised. The next chapter. Nice and early. Sorry I didn't do it yesterday... I fell asleep...**

**I'M SORRY! I WAS SOOOOOO FUCKING TIRED! ARRRGGGG!**

**Now, if you didn't catch on, Kathryn is avoiding Edward because she feels that he won't love her anymore because of the scars. So she's not kissing him, bla bla bla. Sad. :(**

**Now, this chapter isn't very important, the chapter after is... So this is kind of a filler chapter. But is important. You get to meet Kathryn's new rival... OOOOOOOooooooooo.**

**So anyway, the next chapter will be up tomorrow, and if it's not, then you have permission to come to my house and shoot me in the thigh.**

**"But Idontgiveaflyingfuck! We don't know where you live!"**

**"Exactly... I don't feel like getting shot, which seems to happen to Kat a lot..."**

**That happens later... So yeah.**

**I also am in the third book writing about lab 5. YAY! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYY\AYAYAYAYAY!**

**So expect that out soon, and I'll see you guys tomorrow!**

* * *

The next two days were spent studying. They studied as much as they could in the morning before the exam without being late. They stood outside the main building where Kathryn would be taking her exam.

"Good luck, Kathryn," Alphonse said.  
"Yeah, good luck. Kick some ass," Edward said with a smile and a thumbs up.  
"Now Ed, you know the ass kicking doesn't come until later. Colonel Jackass better watch his back," she replied, mischievously rubbing her hands together and cackling.  
"See, this is why you are my girlfriend," Ed laughed. He leaned down to kiss her but her turned on her heel and ran into the building.

She came out a while later.  
"So... How'd it go?" Ed asked.  
"Well, I'm already doing better than you. I finished, but my hand is cramping," she replied, flexing her aching fingers. She made a fist and smiled. "I've got this thing in the bag,"  
"Well that's good. Let's go home so we can practice your interview," he said, draping and arm over her shoulders. They went home and spent the night reviewing the interview.

The next day, Kathryn stood by herself in front of a large pair of double doors. She took in a few deep breaths to calm herself and put on her poker face. She pushed the doors open and strode into the room.

A light appeared in the middle of the room lighting up the golden chair she knew would be there.

"Please, take a seat," the Führer said, gesturing to the chair.

"A chair with only three legs," Kat started as she made her way through the room, "Shouldn't be able to keep its balance,"

"Alchemy is about balance. If you have the gift-

She interrupted him by sitting in the chair. "The chair won't refuse me," she finished with her eyes closed, trying not to smirk. She crossed her legs and leaned back in the chair as far as she dared. "This is a _very_ comfy chair," she stated.

The men that sat with the Führer all gaped, including Mustang who stood at the end of the table.

Bradley cleared his throat. "Well, since you passed that part with flying colors, we would like to ask some questions,"

"Fire away," she replied with a mock salute.

"Why do you want to become a state alchemist?"

She thought about this for a moment. "My reasoning for state alchemy?" She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. "My friends, they are like my family. They lost things very dear to them, I would do anything for them. So by becoming a state alchemist, I think it would help them more to regain the things that they lost.

I was military personal before this, so I know how these things work. As a military officer, I was stuck to my post, not much help there. But if I were to become a state alchemist? I would still be leashed, but it would be longer, and it wouldn't be so tight."

They seemed pleased with this answer and continued with their questioning. They finished after what seemed like forever to Kathryn.

"Thank you very much, Ms. Rockbell," Bradley said as they finished. The lights turned on in the room. "That was our last interview of the day," He looked suspiciously at her hair. "Ms. Rockbell, you have such a pretty face. Why do you have it covered? Let us see the rest of you," he said challengingly.

"I'm very sorry, Sir, but I really can't show you the rest of my face. I think it would make some sick," she said with a glance at Mustang.

"Oh, what could be so bad?" one of the other men asked.

She heaved a sigh and shook her head. "You asked for it," she muttered. She lifted her bangs and the gasps echoed through the room.

"What happened to you?" one asked.

"Wolf attack, from when I was younger,"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Bradley said in mock sincerity. Kat was the only one who picked up the fakeness in his voice. "Mustang, she's in your platoon correct?" he asked with a glance over at the Colonel.

"Yes Sir. She is one of my best men, even if she can't see,"

"I can see fine, thank you very much. And isn't that a bit sexist?"

"Ms. Rockbell, you can go now. We would like to deliberate,"

She turned on her heels and began to walk away, but stopped when she heard the whispers.

"Who does she think she is? How can she talk to her superiors like that?" someone asked.

"Don't you know? That is Fullmetal's girl," Bradley replied.

She smiled and turned around, pointing her finger at the group. "And proud of it!" she shouted then left the room.

The minute she got outside she collapsed next to a pillar.

"You okay?" Ed asked as he ran up to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. God, being a bad ass is really tiring. My legs feel like jelly," she said. She turned her gaze up to Ed with puppy eyes. "Can you carry me home?"

"And risk collapsing under your fat ass? Not a chance,"

She gave him a glare that made the air around them turn cold. Ed shriveled backwards and tried avoiding her gaze. "Edward Elric, you better start running because when I get my strength back I am going to pound your ass!" yelled. She shifted her weight against the pillar trying to get up, but her legs still couldn't hold her. "But until then, I can't walk. Just give me the piggyback ride,"

He grumbled as he turned around and hoisted her onto his back. "God you're heavy. Don't blame me when I drop you,"

"If you had some muscles," she said pinching his arm, "or maybe if you were taller you could carry me with ease," she teased as her held onto him tightly.

"WHO YOU CALLING SO SMALL YOU COULDN'T EVEN SEE THEM WITH A MAGNIFYING GLASS!" he fumed.

She laughed at how easily it was to upset him and how hard it was getting to hold on to the rampaging shorty.

The day after, everyone stood outside in an open area.

"We have provided some materials for your alchemy. Use whatever you need," a military officer stated.

Everyone backed away from Kathryn. "Ladies first," one of them said. He was quite handsome, short brown hair, dark green eyes. But the second her opened his trap Kathryn lost all interest in him.

Everyone snickered at his comment.

"Oh please, I insist. Age before beauty," she said flipping her pony tail. She walked up to the man and got real close. "You know what? I will go first actually. Pearls before swine,"

The people around them went 'Oooooo' like a bunch of school kids.

"Hmmm…" She walked to the middle of the grounds tapping her finger to her lips.

The military officer from before tossed her some chalk and she got an idea.

She drew her transmutation circle and threw the chalk over her shoulder. She slammed her palms into the dirt and rose into the air on a large stone column. She stood from her place and smiled at her work.

"How you gonna get down from there? We won't help you," the man called out.

She smirked and clapped her hands. She slammed them down on the column and smaller ones came out of the ground. She jumped from stone to stone before reaching the ground, but she didn't stop there.

She ran towards the crowd, clapping her hands again and stooping to pull a quick dagger out of the ground.

She reached out and grabbed the collar of the man's jacket, pulling him close and placed the blade to his neck. "Who ever said I needed your help?"

She stepped away and flipped the knife so the blade was in her palm. She hurled it in the direction of Bradley without even looking. Everyone gasped and she looked at Mustang who stood idly by. The knife dropped out of the air and stuck in the ground right next to Bradley's feet. "You know, you are very open in these things. You should rethink this system," She walked forward and patted the man on the shoulder. "Good luck," she said as she flashed him a cutesy smile.

Everyone was still gaping.

"You-you-you…" he gulped, "You transmuted without a circle."

Kat simply shrugged her shoulders. "It's a gift,"

"We should get together later. I'm Jeremy, and I would really like to know how you did that. And maybe get to know some other things,"

"Like why you have yet to come out of the closet?" she asked innocently. She heard the others chuckle and shook her head. "No, I'm already taken. You know the Fullmetal Alchemist? Yeah, he's my boyfriend. And that wasn't something I learned. It was something I paid for deeply," she said as she walked away.

She stopped halfway between the grounds and the building. "Now, there's something I'm forgetting. I can't quite put my finger on it… I got it!" she exclaimed. She turned around and pointed a finger at Mustang. "Roy Mustang! I'm coming back here tomorrow to fight you for my state alchemist certification! You better start getting ready because I won't be going easy on you, even if you are my commanding officer," she challenged. And with that she left.

Once outside she ran down the steps to meet Ed and. "So? How'd it go?" Ed asked.

"Oh geeze, you should have seen it. All the guys were picking on me cause I was a girl? Boy did I show them!" she told them excitedly. Then she sighed. "And I picked who I am fighting tomorrow,"

"Who?"

"Mustang,"

"You can't fight Mustang! I couldn't beat him!" Ed exclaimed.

"Okay, Ed? Darling. If I can beat you and Al, almost, then I surely can beat Mustang. Just gimme a few tips on how you did it and I should be fine by doing the exact opposite,"

"Why you…" he started as he went to grab her.

She jumped away from his reach and stuck her tongue out at him. "Catch me if you can,"

They ran around for a bit until Ed finally caught her around the waist. He spun her around and leaned in close to kiss her. She jumped away and stuck her tongue out at him and laughed.

Then someone grabbed her ass. She smashed her elbow into a nose, then turned and kicked the person in the head. She put her knee on his chest and wrapped her hand around his neck. "I told you, asshole. I'm not interested,"

She stood up from Jeremy and turned to Ed. "I am terrified right now,"

"Don't worry, Ed. I'll only be rough if you ask for it," she said with a wink.

"Be carefull about how rough you are with him. I need him in pristine condition for our fight," Jeremy said standing up and wiping the blood from his nose.

Kathryn slammed him against the nearest column, pinning him there with her forearm against his neck. She growled at him, and he almost wet his pants it sounded so real. "Do you have a death wish? Because if I really wanted to, I could kill you right now before he did,"

"You wouldn't kill me. You like me too much," he mocked her, making a kissy face.

She pressed her arm harder against his throat. "You want to bet on that?"

"Kathryn," Ed said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "Let him go. If he passes you can settle it then. Don't risk your certification by doing something like this. It's not worth it,"

She glanced at him over her shoulder. She pressed her arm a bit more into Jeremy's neck before pushing away. They walked about five paces before he said something.

"You should put her on a leash," he said rubbing his neck, "She's to wild to be roaming on her own,"

Kathryn turned around, fist clenched, and punched him in the face before Ed could grab her. "Just shut up already," she said looking down on him.

"Let's just go," Ed warned her as he dragged her away. Once they were inside their apartment, he turned on her. "Would you like to explain to me about what that was?"

"I don't know what came over me. I had this urge to protect you. Or something," she said shaking her head. She straightened and turned her head to the door. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what? Kat, you're scaring me,"

"Shh," she hushed. She walked over to the door and opened it to Hughes with his arm raised to knock.

"Woah. I didn't even knock,"

"I heard you coming down the hallway. What do you want Hughes?"

"You know, I _am_ a higher ranking officer, Second Lieutenant Rockbell. You should be calling me Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. You're too friendly," he said leaning over her.

She stared up at him with her eyes narrowed. "I won't be too far from you soon enough Hughes. Do tell me what you are doing here before I toss you out the window,"

He began to laugh at her. "You are waayy to uptight Kat," he said, patting her shoulder as he walked into the apartment. "I came here because you requested to fight Roy in your alchemy exam. Are you sure about that?"

"I'm positive. He is always so god damn smug. I can't wait to wipe that smirk off his face and shove it up his-

"Now now. No need to go into those nasty details," he stopped her. He dug into his pocket for something. "But I wanted to tell you guys," he started. He pulled out a picture and shoved it in their faces. "My darling Elicia is turning 2 and you guys are coming to her birthday party tonight!"

"Hughes, do you really think that shoving this picture in my face again is going to help you get me to come?" Kat growled.

"You have to come! Gracia wants to meet you three. Especially you, Kat. Seeing as you saved our lives and what not. Plus, her cooking is the best!"

She looked over at Ed for help. "Sounds like fun. You need it too. You've been tense lately. A party could do you good,"

"I guess. Plus, it would give me a chance to test out my new outfit…" she chuckled.

"What new outfit?"

"I'll go and put it on," she said and left the room.

"For your sake, I hope it's not a cocktail dress and some pumps. There will be a few boys around your age at the party. I figured you would get lonely with just you three so I told some of my friends who were already coming to bring all their kids. Gracia was so mad at me!" Hughes gushed.

"Okay. I'm ready," she called out and walked into the livingroom.

He hair was up in her normal pony tail with the same framework on her face. She had Ed's jacket on, but in the military blue. Tight, black, leather pants that tucked into the knee-high black boots she wore. She had on a small black tub top that only covered her chest and a black double zipper crop jacket with white trim. She stood there and pulled on the other white glove that she had. "So, what do you think?" she asked as she did a spin.

They were both at a loss for words. "I-I-I-I-

"Wow Kathryn. I like the new outfit. It's just like brother's," Al said as he came up behind her.

"Thanks Al. We are going to Hughes's daughter's birthday party. We're all invited,"

"Ooo. Yay. I do like parties,"

"And when you get your body back, we will throw you a big party with all the food on that list of yours," she told him with a smile.

"Okay!"

"Ed. You ready?"

"Wha? Oh yeah. I'm ready," he said as he tried hard to stop staring at her. She walked out the door and he stared after her.

"Brother, you're drooling," Alphonse laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

**I HAVEN'T SLEPT YET, IT'S STILL SUNDAY!**

**So You guys get another chappy since it's sunday! YAY!**

**"Idon'tgiveaflyingfuck! That's three chapters in three days! Are you sure you want to do this?"**

**"I don't give a flying fuck whether its three days or three minutes! My people need their KatWard!"**

**Yes, that's what I named them. Don't like it? GET OUT.**

**NO IM JUST KIDDING DONT LEAVE MEEEE!**

**Siriusly though, don't like it? Review me saying what it should be.**

**BE PREPARED FOR SOME FUCKING DRAMA LLAMAS PEOPLE! THIS SHIT WILL BLOW YOUR FUCKING MINDS!**

**I don't know why I made this happen, I just did. So deal.**

**Thanks for the reviews you all have been giving me! Every one counts!**

**Love you all, and I'll let you read now. Because I know you're al dying to find out what the llamas are bringing us this time...**

**muahahahahahhahahahhahahahha hahha...**

* * *

They went to the store first to pick up the gifts Hughes had pre-ordered. They each had to carry a few bags.

"Hughes, have you ever considered that you're spoiling the poor kid?" Kat asked him from behind the boxes she was carrying.

"Absolutely not. My darling Elicia is getting everything that she deserves!"

They got to Hughes' house. The door opened and he tossed his bags behind him for the others to catch while he smothered his daughter.

"Daddy!" Elicia screeched as he smothered her in hugs and kisses.

"Oh Elicia! Daddy missed you so much! If I didn't have to work I would stay here with you for the rest of my life!"

"Yes, but you have to work to keep them happy so you can shut up and help us with these damn boxes and bags," Kathryn growled.

"You're such a sour puss… You and Roy are one in the same," he muttered.

"What was that!" she yelled. She dropped the boxes with a large thud and reached into her boot. She pulled out the wrench she shoved in it and aimed it at Hughes. "Say that again to my face, Hughes! I dare you!"

"You and Roy are the same!"

He ducked as she threw the wrench at his head and the wrench stuck in the side of the house. He grabbed Elicia and started to run around the yard. Kathryn went over and ripped the wrench out of the trimming, splintering some of the wood in the process. She began to chase after Hughes with the wrench.

"You wouldn't dare risk hitting Elicia with that wrench!"

"If you would sit still I wouldn't risk hitting her with it! Now quit moving!"

"Maes, stop using our daughter as a human shield," Gracia scolded as she stood on the steps.

"I would never-

He was interrupted by Kathryn hitting him on the back of the head with the wrench. "There… Thanks Mrs. Hughes!" Kat shouted from the other side of the yard. She walked back over to the boxes and picked them up off the ground.

They all went inside and set the presents down on the table.

"So these are the Elric brothers. You must be Edward, the Fullmetal Alchemist. Hughes talks about you all the time," Gracia said with a smile while she shook Al's hand.

"I'm actually his younger brother Alphonse. Ed is over there," Al said pointing to Ed who was now glooming in the corner.

"Oh, I'm sorry. The title mixes it up. Nice to meet you Al,"

"I'm sure Ed will tell you that it's nice to meet you as soon as he _GETS OVER HIMSELF_!" Kathryn shouted over her shoulder. She grabbed Gracia's hand. "But in the mean time, I'm Kathryn,"

"So you're the one that saved my husband. He talks about you a lot too. If I didn't know any better, I would think he fancies you,"

"Gracia! You know I would never!" Hughes shouted. He stared glooming in the corner with Ed while the two chuckled.

"How can you see with that hair in your eyes?" Gracia asked. She reached out and brushed the hair out of Kat's eyes before she could flinch. "Oh dear,"

Kathryn looked away from everyone's gaze. Even Ed and Hughes came out of their gloom to glance over their shoulders at her. "Wolves," she whispered.

"Oh, I'm sorry,"

"It's fine," Kat replied with a shake of her head. She looked up at everyone who was staring at her and plastered on a fake smile. "Well, why are we so gloomy! This is a birthday! Let's get the party started," she exclaimed as she picked up Elicia and twirled them around.

Everyone smiled, though there was still a hint of sadness in their gazes.

* * *

Once everyone was there, the party was in full swing. Everyone was crowded around Alphonse gushing over the "Fullmetal Alchemist".

Ed sat glooming in the corner again. Kathryn knelt beside him trying to console him.

She finally gave up with a huff. "Ed. I hate to do this but you leave me no choice," she told him. She pulled him up with her and cocked her head to the crowd. "You fought over 100 red coats in the uprisings last year? And vaporised them all in _one _alchemic blast!? Wow! You sure are a great _state alchemist. _You're the FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST right?" she shouted over the crowd.

Everyone turned their attention to Kat. "What?"

"The Fullmetal Alchemist did that?"

"Tell us more about what you've done!"

"This guy right here, the FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, saved a town from the brink of destruction," she gushed, pointing at Ed. She leaned in close to Ed. "Stretch the story of Youswell," she whispered.

She made her way through the crowd and sat down next to Hughes, smiling as the crowd listened intently to Ed's story.

"You know, I can't decide if I did that to get him out of his gloom, get away from the gloom, or just torture the poor boy,"

"Knowing you three, I say the later," Hughes replied with a chuckle. "You did a good thing for him,"

"He always goes into a depressed phase when that happens. I figured it would ruin the party,"

"Or you care for him,"

"What?" she gaped at Hughes with wide eyes. "That's insane," She looked through the crowd at Ed as they all gasped at what must have been a suspenseful part in the tale. "Insane…"

Something tugged on Kat's pant leg and she looked down to see Elicia. "Wiw you play wid me?" she asked.

"Why aren't you listening to the story?" Kat asked pointing at Ed.

"It's bowing," Elicia replied.

Kat snickered and stood up. "Okay, let's play," she said as she let Elicia pull her away.

Hughes smiled after her. "He's lucky to have you,"

* * *

A while later, Ed finally got a chance to sit down. He looked over to Kat being mobbed by all the smaller children.

"Ed! Please help me!" she pleaded as the kids tackles, tickled, and jumped on her.

He simply laughed at her. "I never knew she was so great with kids,"

"I bet she'd make a good mother," Hughes told him.

"Probably," Ed replied taking a sip of his drink.

"Bet she'd make a great wife,"

He spewed his drink and choked a bit. "Hughes!"

"I'm stating the facts. You two care about each other, I just happen to be the one thinking about your futures together," he shrugged.

"Hughes, we don't care enough about each other like that. I'll be lucky if she lets this last longer than a couple of months from now,"

He shook his head. "Ed, she's already risked her life for you, what, five times now?"

"That doesn't mean anything," Ed muttered.

"Ed, she cares about you enough that she has already died twice for you. She really cares about you,"

"I don't know. She's been acting strangely since the attack. I don't know what's wrong. She won't tell me either…"

"She will tell you when she is ready. She is no ordinary girl. She treats her emotions like a man. She expresses through her action. But when she is going to burst, _you_ will be the first person she goes to. So be patient. She'll come around,"

"I hope you're right," Ed said with a glance out the window. Rain drops trickled down the window pane. "We should be getting home. I don't want Al to get caught in anything nasty," he said setting down his cup. He walked over to Kat and helped her up. "There's a storm coming. Let's go home before it gets bad,"

"Aww…"

"Don't leave!"

"Stay with us! You're fun!" the kids wined.

Kat laughed and bent over real close to them. "If you want to have some real fun, you should go tackle Mr. Hughes over there," she whispered pointing to Hughes. "On my count. One. Two. Three," she stood and pointed at Hughes. "ATTACK!"

The kids ran over to Hughes and tackled him in his chair.

"KATHRYN!"

"Run, Al! We're leaving!" Kathryn called.

They ran out of the house and through the streets back to their apartment.

They said their good nights and went to their rooms. Kat and Ed took off their outer clothes which were now drenched and hung them up on a line in the room. Kat took off her necklace so it didn't get caught in her hair and break.

"Night," Kat said as she crawled under the sheets.

"Night," Ed whispered as he pulled her close.

He fell asleep almost immediately, but something was keeping Kat up. She wasn't entirely sure of what, but the thunder kept getting louder and she started shaking.

_What the hell? I'm not scared of thunder. I've never been afraid of thunder. What the hell is going on? _A loud clap echoed through the room and she jumped, shaking so hard that it woke up Ed.

"You're scared of thunder?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"No," A bright light filled the room followed by thunder louder than the last. She yelped and turned around in his arms, burying her head in his neck. "I never was afraid of thunder before. It's just really loud tonight. That's all,"

He rubbed circles into her lower back and kissed the top of her head. "Just go to sleep. I'm here," he soothed.

She nodded off as he rubbed her back. _What's wrong with me? _Was her last thought.

* * *

Her nightmares were vivid.

She hadn't had a nightmare for quite some time.

They were images of the battle in the slums, ending with a sword ramming through her heart. Then there were flashes of Truth and her door, followed by her battle with Edward.

She twitched in his arms.

"Kat? You okay?"

She was running from Bradley, then out of no where her arm was gone and she bled out on a forest floor. Then there was the fight she had with Ed over the alchemy exam.

Her breathing was fast, sweat covered her brow. Her head jerked from side of side.

"Kat, wake up. Kathryn," Ed said shaking her lightly.

She dreamt of the fight with Jeremy, how she growled at him. How she sounded inhuman. Then it was flashes of all the times she growled at something, her overwhelming urge to protect Edward, her fear of thunder. Her dreams then went to the wolf attack. It repeated over and over, the claws scraping against her flesh, the blood splattering against the wall.

"Kathryn!" he shouted. She was close to slapping her out of it.

Her dreams ended with a wolf on a cliff, howling at the full moon. It looked over at Kathryn, its yellow eyes turning green. The last thing that happened was the wolf snarling, lunging and snapping its jaws, and Kathryn's scream.

Kat's eyes shot open, flashing yellow. She dashed off the bed to the floor. She faced Ed who was wide-eyed, staring at Kat who was now on all fours, snarling at Edward with yellow eyes.

A flash of lighting lit the room, her back arched. Her screams of pain were canceled out by the thunder, as well as the crackling sound of breaking bones. She fell on her side, panting. She moved herself back to her fours and shook her head. She looked at Edward and cocked her head to the side. He was shaking, his eyes wide with fear.

"Ed what is it?"

He just stared at her.

"Ed! What's wrong!"

She could see him shaking, just staring at her.

She jumped up to the bed and knocked im over. "For fuck sake Ed! Tell me whats wrong!" she growled. She felt something behind her and looked over her shoulder.

There was a tail swishing back and forth. She yelped and fell of the bed. "What the…" she looked down and backed up into the corner, her eyes never leaving the furry paws that moved with her. "Ed… What's wrong with me?" she whined, glancing at Ed.

He knelt on the bed and looked at her. "Kat? Kat, is that you?"

"Of course it's me you blubbering idiot! I-" _Wait. He can't understand me. I must be coming out to him with barks and growls. Shit. _

"Kat? Is that you? Can you understand me?" She gave him a nod and a snort, as if saying 'Of course dumbass'. "Come here," he said patting the bed. She glared at him. "Please?"

She hopped up on the bed and laied her head on her paws. She whimpered and nudged his leg. "Kat. Do you know how this happened?" She returned his question with a glare. "I'll take that as a no," he muttered. She snorted a yes.

He began to pet her head. She leaned into his hand, loving the feel of his fingers in her fur. She realised what was happening and snapped her jaws at his hand. "You know you liked it,"

She looked over at the nightstand and saw the necklace. _I wonder…_ She grabbed the necklace in her mouth and dropped it on Ed's lap. She nudged his hand telling him to put it on her. He raised an eyebrow at her and she simply growled at him.

He put the necklace on Kathryn. Nothing happened at first, then her back arched and the snapping echoed through the room. She fell over on the bed.

She felt her butt. "No tail…" she looked up at Ed. "Can you understand me?"

"Kat… You just turned into a wolf, and your eyes… They're green."

"I was a wolf? Green eyes?" she asked. She felt her scars. "I don't think those were normal chimeras…" She moved herself to the edge of the bed, pulling her knees to her chest. "You should go,"

"What? Why?"

"I don't know what I could do, I'm a freak. You should leave before I do something I might regret,"

"Kathryn. You're not going to hurt me. You are strong enough and you have so much self-control. You said it yourself, you had an urge to protect me. That means you consider me part of your pack, in wolf terms. You would never do something to hurt your pack.

Kat, I want to see something. Lay down, I'm going to take off the necklace,"

"What? No! Ed you can't, that was so painful! I could hear my back snap."

"Maybe if you were relaxed it wouldn't hurt as much. Plus, that was a slow change, so maybe it gets better as you go,"

"If I so much as wince, I'm going to have your head," she said laying down.

He undid the clasp. Nothing happened until he removed the necklace. She turned into her wolf form. Then he put it back on, nothing happening until her did the clasp. Then she turned back to a human. "That is so cool,"

"Really cause I think it's terrible," she muttered.

"No. We now have an advantage. You look like a real wolf so if people saw you in that form, they would thing you were just a wolf. But when you turn back into a human, pow!" he said punching the air.

She laughed at him. "Well at least someone can make this into a good situation," She twirled the necklace in her fingers. "So I change when the necklace is off my body and change back when the clasp is done. Okay then," she said. She laied down under the covers.. "Now we know where that growling, protectiveness and unexplained fear of thunder came from,"

"Kat..."

"Hmm?"

"Can I- Can I pet you head?"

She growled and muttered something. "Fine. Don't get carried away or else I'll-

"You'll have my head,"

"I guess I need to come up with some new threats. Being a wolf, I think I should be able to come up with some good ones that will actually be true," She looked at her left arm. "I just realised, I had four limbs. I had a real left hand. Fore paw. Whatever. Did I have my scars?"

"Just the one big one. I didn't see any of the others,"

"Hmmm…"

"Don't worry your pretty little head. We'll figure out what to do in the morning,"

"Okay..." she yawned. She curled up into a ball against Ed's chest.

He pet her head until they both fell asleep, the stones in her necklace glittering in the small flashes of lightning.

* * *

**DUHN DUHN DUHN! DRAMAAAAA!**


	10. Chapter 10

**TWICE IN ONE DAY? Idontgiveaflyingfuck... Are you sick?**

**Actually, yes I am... Yet I love you all enough to sit on my computer for a few hours instead of homework due tomorrow just so I can post this chapter and the alternate beginning to this story...**

**THAT'S RIGHT! YOU ALL HEARD ME, THERE IS NO WAX IN YOUR EARS! I have made an alternate beginning to this story right here... It is called A Whole Other Beginning. (See what I did there?)**

**So go ahead and read this chapter... Then read that new story of mine...**

**TOTAL EPICNESS RIGHT HERE! THE FIGHT TO THE DEATH BETWEEN COLONEL ROY MUSTANG AND SECOND LIEUTENANT KATHRYN ROCKBELL! **

**Okay... not a fight to the death... but a fight none the less. Will Kat get her license? We shall see!**

**LUV YOU!**

* * *

Edward woke up the next day. He looked down at Kathryn and laughed. She had her nose covered with her hands, like a dog. "Kat, come on. You have a big day ahead of you."

She got up and stretched, first leaning forward, then backwards, like a dog.

"You know, I almost forgot that you're part wolf until you did that,"

She smiled and crawled over to him and licked his cheek. "And what about when I do that?"

"It makes me want to ravage you, but if I did that, then we'd be late and you wouldn't pass,"

She laughed and kissed him in the same spot. "Morning," she said. She changed into a regular black tank, her favorite pair of jeans, and her boots. "I'm not going to put on my battle gear until I get there," she said, tucking her outfit into a bag."I'll put it on before I go out,"

They left the house and went to the main building. They gave Kat a the room from before and she got ready.

She finished tucking the pant legs into her boots and zipped them up.

"So you know you need to strike first,"

"Yes Ed," she replied, pulling down the belly tank that she traded out for the tub top.

"And if you don't get a chance start running before he burns you to a crisp,"

"Yes Ed," she said pulling on her jacket and zipping it how it was before.

"And why were you studying that alchemy book the whole ride here? You already know everything you need,"

"That book was a book on everything you need to know about the basics of water based alchemy. He is the Flame Alchemist, Ed. He is useless on rainy days. What will happen if his gloves get wet?" she asked pulling on her blue jacket.

"Oh, you remember he has two gloves?"

"Yes Ed," she sighed. She pulled on her gloves and tied her into her pony tail. "Anything else?"

"Nothing I can think of. Oh wait," he tossed her a piece of chalk. "How fast can you make a transmutation circle for a wall?"

She bent over and made the transmutation circle for a wall blindingly fast. She touched the circle and the wall shot up. Ed kicked it and it still held strong. She clapped and deconstructed it.

"Good. If you lose your arm somehow you will need a wall. I'm going to go tell him about your necklace. Don't worry, I won't tell him why, just to stay away from it,"

He left her alone to herself. She breathed in deeply and clutched the key around her neck. _What happens if he breaks the chain? Or worse… the key itself… Ed, you better do a good job of convincing him…_

Ed and Al walked back into the room.

"You ready, Kathryn?" Al asked.

"Yeah… Just a bit nervous," she replied.

"Don't be. You're going to kick ass. Then you will be a dog of the military," he snickered.

She punched him hard in the arm.

"Is there something I'm missing?" Alphonse asked suspiciously.

"Al, we'll tell you later. It's something that can't be explained in under a minute," Kat replied.

The door opened and they walked into the arena.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the first fight of the day! In the red corner stands Colonel Roy Mustang!" Hughes shouted. Boos echoed through the crowd just like the last time. "In the blue corner, should she succeed, will be the first ever female state alchemist, Kathryn Rockbell!" Cheers and cat whistled erupted through the crowd.

Ed stiffened noticeably next to Kathryn. She grabbed his upper arm and gave it a squeeze. "You know you're the only guy for me. We are the only ones who can put up with the other's shit,"

"Good luck," he whispered. Then everyone but the two were left in the ring.

"Alchemists, are you ready?" Kathryn and Mustang just glared at each other. "Tough crowd tough crowd. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!" he yelled as he ran away as fast as he could.

Kathryn made the first move by clapping her hands and slamming them to the ground.

"And what was that supposed to do, Second Lieutenant?" Mustang asked her. He shifted his weight and prepared to fire at her when the ground collapsed from under him.

"Just that," she smirked. She clapped and pulled her sword out of the ground. The crowd erupted in cheers.

Mustang managed to pull himself out of the hole. He staggered a bit but managed to regain his footing. She rushed towards Mustang, sword poised to strike. He took aim as she sliced through the air. Then she jumped back quickly.

"Too slow! Are you just so old that you can't move anymore?"

"How can you miss a stationary object!" he asked taking aim again.

She ran forward and took another slice at him. Then she jumped back. "Are you forgetting about your own alchemy Colonel? If I recall," she took another slice, "not only are you useless on rainy days, but you can't manage a spark in shifting air currents," she finished with an upwards swipe. "Plus, if I went full out on you, you might never wake up again. And I don't want to do that quite yet,"

Mustang stopped moving backwards away from her blade. "Useless?"

She stuck her sword in the ground and swung herself around with the handle, kicking him square in the chest and sent him flying backwards. She pulled her sword out of the ground and aimed at him in case he recovered quickly. "An angry soldier fights blind. You of all people should know that. You taught it to me,"

She stuck the blade back into the ground, placed her hands on the handle and rested her head on her hands. "Geeze Colonel Jackass, you sure you were up to this battle? You look so tired," she feigned worry. She pretended to check her nails, seeing as she still had on her gloves. "I guess you're not as young as you used to be. How old are you now, fifty? You sure you shouldn't be in the nursing ho-

Mustang came out of no where and punched her in the face. She went flying away from her sword and landed on her back. He stared at her with wide eyes, not believing he just did that.

Kathryn just started laughing. She stood up and wiped the dirt off her ass. "Now we are getting somewhere! I was waiting for you to lose that cool demeanor. Now we can have some real fun!" She walked away from him about twenty steps before turning around. "Why don't we start this thing over now that you are a little more relaxed?" she asked. She extended her arm and closed her fist twice, telling him to come on. "Gimme your best shot. Don't hold back."

He growled at how much she was enjoying this and snapped.

She was already out of the way. "That's more like it! But come on, you've got to be able to do better than that!"

He snapped again and she dodged it, laughing at him. He started a rapid fire but she easily dodged them.

She thought he was done, so after the last dodge she turned to him and put out her arm. "Is that all you got?" she asked as a fire-ball hit her in the arm, the force knocking her over. "Fuck that's hot! Ed, I may need some burn ointment for my shoulder when I'm done here!" she said as she stood up.

Gasps went through the crowd as she looked down at her arm. Both of the coat sleeves were singed off, leaving her arm totally exposed.

"Aww, now look at what you've done. You ruined my coat," She took off both of the coats and tossed them to the side. "Both of 'em!"

"Was that the wolves too?"

She looked up at Bradley. "Yeah," she slammed her fist into her upper arm and twisted, showing everyone what really happened though they would never figure it out. "An alpha wolf," she muttered. She turned her gaze back to Mustang. "Well it's nice to know that you have some compassion. You had the perfect opportunity to strike, yet you never took it. You really are a softy," she said as she walked up to him. "Why don't we switch to hand-to-hand. Your right hand is cramping and you're not going to use your left,"

"What makes you think I won't?"

"Because you have too much sympathy for the crippled girl you're fighting. You're only going to resort to using that hand if you really needed it,"

"I could burn you right now," he said putting his left hand up between them in a snapping position.

"You could, but you won't."

"What's stopping me from doing it?"

"Nothing but yourself. I'm open for a crisp, but at this close of a range, I would die from severe burns. You don't want that on your conscience so you won't do anything," she walked away and clapped, pulling out two standard issue military swords. "You any good with a sword?" she asked as she tossed one to Mustang.

"I've had my fair share of sparrings," he replied as he lunged.

They fought with the swords for a bit until they ditched them and were throwing full-out punches and kicks at each other.

As she went to give him a left hook, he caught her arm and twisted it behind her back. "Do you give up?"

She tried stepping on his foot, elbowing him in the stomach, she even head-butted him, his grip remained tight. She thought for a moment while he twisted her arm painfully. "Just give up already, you're going to lose," he said.

Her hand began to creep up her arm until it rested on her shoulder.

"Kathryn! Don't do it!" Ed yelled.

"That's what you think. There's no way that I'm giving up yet," she said as she detached her arm from the base and rolled away from him.

In Mustang's confusion, she quickly made a transmutation circle and put up a wall to hide behind.

She breathed for a few seconds before peaking from behind the wall. Flames shot her way as she ducked back behind the wall.

_I've got to end this thing quickly. I'm losing energy, missing an arm, and I'm sweating like a pig. Think Kathryn, think._

"_That book was a book on everything you need to know about the basics of water based alchemy. He is the Flame Alchemist, Ed. He is useless on rainy days. What will happen if his gloves get wet?"_

_Water! I'm sweating._

With some of the her blood, she made a transmutation circle on the wall that was slowly falling apart under the force of Mustang's blasts.

"Come on! Your rock will soon be demolished. Why don't you just give up?"

She started drawing another circle in the sand. "Come on. What are the runes?" she muttered. She finished the circle and nodded in satisfaction. "I think that's right..." Then she made a small knife and set it to the side. She took a deep breath and slammed her palm against the wall, causing it to shrink back into the ground.

"So you do give up?" Mustang asked with a smirk.

"I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve," she replied. She wiped the sweat off of her forehead and slammed it into the circle

"What was that supposed to do?"

Water swirled from the circle and hydo-pumped into Mustang's face. He was now soaking wet from his hair, to his gloves, to his boots. Kathryn rushed forward with the knife and knocked him over. She stuck the knife into his sleeve, pinning his dominant arm to the ground, and pressed her arm to his neck. "You gotta give those things time. Sorry if I'm choking you, I currently only have one arm," she said as she pressed harder. "Do you give?"

He slammed his hand down three times and Kat pushed herself off of him. They lay sprawled out on the ground breathing heavily.

"Kathryn Rockbell wins!" Hughes called out.

"You win, Major," Mustang breathed with a glance in her direction.

She looked over at him with a smile and laughed. "I guess I am better than Ed," she said with content. She stood up with some difficulty in keeping her footing. She walked over to Mustang and yanked the knife out of his sleeve, then offered her hand. He took it and she pulled him up, barley managing their footing. "Now, what did you do with my arm?"

"I threw it at Ed. I figured he should hold onto it,"

"Thanks," she said as she walked away.

"I want to see you three in my office tomorrow morning. Knowing the Führer, he already had everything ready for you, seeing as how talented you are,"

"I highly doubt that I'm _that_ good. I'm no war hero," she said with a smile over her shoulder then walked away. She looked around the crowd for Alphonse or Edward and didn't either of them. "Now, where's my cute _little_ boyfriend?"

"WHO YOU CALLING LITTLE?"

She laughed at him and headed in his direction. "There you are,"

"Rockbell!"

She turned around to see Major General Hakuro walking to her. "Sir," she said with a salute. _Better keep in favor with _some_ military officers._

"This is from the Führer," he said, handing her a manilla envelope. "He said not to open it until you see your platoon leader next. Seeing as Mustang left already, we had to give it to you"

"Thank you ,sir," she said.

He saluted her and she saluted back. Then he walked away.

She ran over to Ed and hopped over the barricades. She was immediately surrounded by the people of the crowd, telling her what a great job she did, how happy they were that she kicked Mustang's ass.

She started to growl when Ed got to her side.

"Okay people! Move along, famous alchemist coming through!" Ed shouted.

No one listened.

Kathryn growled. "Shut up and move out of my fucking way before I pull out my sword and chop off all of your heads!" she shouted.

Everyone ran away and she sighed in relief.

They walked outside and Kat gazed at the envelope with amazement. "Damn. Mustang was right. The Führer knew I was going to pass, so he had everything ready," she said. She looked at Ed. "You must rub off on me,"

"I'm not that reckless," he said looking forward.

"What do you mean?"

"You purposefully took off your arm. That was a real risky move, you could have gotten killed if you didn't get that wall up in time. And taunting him like that?"

"I was giving a good show,"

"It was stupid,"

"But you have to admit, I did good,"

"You were stupid, but yes you did good,"

"Why do you keep calling me stupid?" they stopped at the bottom of the steps.

"Because you are! You don't risk yourself like that just for a damn pocket watch,"

"I'm not doing it for the fucking watch. Ed, I'm doing it for you! And now me too! I don't want-" she stopped and sniffed the air. Then she whined.

"What is it?"

"I smell steak," she whimpered. She shook her head and growled. "I don't want that! I don't want to be distracted by a damn squirrel or the smell of meat, or for you to pet my head at night to calm me down from thunderstorms, which another one will be coming through again tonight," she sighed and sat down on the steps."As much as I enjoy some of those things, I can also smell all the horrible things. I can smell the blood of a living human being, even if it's weeks old and the mess has been cleaned. I can still smell it, and it's so over powering, I can't take it. I just want to be normal again,"

He pulled her back up and into a hug, brushing her hair with his fingers in an effort to soothe her. "You will be normal again. I will make sure of it,"

"Okay…" she stiffened and pulled away. "Fuck,"

"What?"

"That was quite the show back there. Never knew you had it in you. Now, I only saw the beginning. I had to go place my request to fight the Fullmetal Alchemist," Jeremy said coming up behind her.

"You're still going to do that? Are you mad?" she asked, turning herself around in Ed's arms.

"Mad that we didn't get to do anything yesterday," he said as he walked towards them. "Wait, where's your arm?"

"Uhhh… In his hand?" she said pointing to Ed.

"What happened to it?"

"You didn't see that part, did you?"

"Obviously not,"

"Well, Mustang had my arm pinned behind my back so I removed it and put up a wall. Then some other shit happened,but in short, I won and I am a state alchemist. So you should just quit while you're ahead,"

"I'll take my chances. I'll see you tomorrow, Fullmetal pipsqueak," he waved over his shoulder as he walked away.

Kat grabbed his arm and held him in place. "Let him go. If you fight with him now, something bad could happen to you. Save it for tomorrow,"

Then they went home.

* * *

While everyone was asleep, Kathryn was sitting at the kitchen table, with the light on, staring at the envelope.

"You should go to sleep," Ed said as he walked into the room.

"I know the secrets that are contained in this folder…" she said with mock seriousness. "I don't wanna wait!" she whined.

"Well think about it," Ed said with a glance at the clock, "in what will now be five hours, we can go see Mustang. That means you get to look at your file. So come to bed, we can go in the morning,"

She sighed. "Alright,"

And they went to bed.


	11. Chapter 11

**OMG IT'S ANOTHER ONE WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON ITS THE END OF THE WORLD!**

**Lol... you guys are funny...**

**But anywho...**

**So heres the next chapter... Kathryn gets her name... Muahahahahahahahaahaha...**

* * *

The next day they all stood in Mustang's office.

"Do you have your folder, Rockbell?" Mustang asked. He leaning against the front of his desk, feet crossed and looking bored. He wasn't in his seat. That should have been the first clue that something was up.

Hawkeye wasn't in the room either. Another sign.

"Of course. There's no way in hell I'd forget it," Kat said as she walked up to the desk.

He grabbed the file with his left hand, yet another sign that something was off. Out of no where, his other hand came out and yanked off her necklace.

Her hand reached out and grabbed the chain before if could leave her body. "What the fuck do you think you are doing?" she snarled, her eyes wide with fear.

"Wondering why, all of a sudden, you are so protective a necklace,"

"Colonel, let go if the necklace," she warned

"And what if I don't?"

"I will tear out your throat and crush in your skull. Literally," she threatened.

"Remember, Rockbell. You may have made it as an alchemist, but you are under my command still. I suggest you let go of the necklace," he said. Then, yanked the chain hard as he could, out of her hands, and jumped out of reach of her.

"Kat!" Ed called out.

She screamed out in agony as her back arched and she collapsed to the floor squirming.

"Kat!" he shouted in worry. He dropped down to the floor next to her, whipping the hair out of her face. "Kat, what's going on? Nothing's happening,"

"Ed, stand back. I'm going to burst. I'm trying to hold it back. It's not working," she rasped. She looked up at Mustang who's eyes were wide with fear at what was happening. "Remember that you brought this upon yourself, Colonel," she growled.

Ed staggered backward as she burst into her wolf form. She snarled and jumped onto Mustang, growling and snapping her jaws.

"Kathryn, enough! I think he gets it," Ed said.

She glared at Mustang, his normally cool, dark eyes widened to the brim and filled with complete terror. This hit Kathryn hard and she slinked back to Ed's side. He patted her head and she leaned against his leg.

"This is why we couldn't break the necklace during the fight. If the government found out, then she would be taken to a lab," he turned to Alphonse and smiled. "This is what we were talking about before she got her certification," he explained to his little brother.

"Th-that's still her?"

Kathryn growled and snorted at Mustang.

"I think that said, Of course it's still me, and a few choice words that I don't feel like sorting through. Did I get that right?"

She nodded her head and licked his palm.

Mustang stood up and cleared his throat. "Well, now it looks like I've got something to keep her in line,"

Kat reared back to pounce on him again Ed slumped down and held her around the neck to keep her still. She growled and barked at Mustang who was smiling.

"Now it looks like our nick name is true. A real live dog of the military. Er- wolf,"

She growled at Mustang. "Kathryn, knock it off," Ed said sternly.

Kathryn jumped away and growled fiercely at him. She stopped when she saw the hurt in Ed's eyes. She bowed her head and whined, padding back over to him. She stood on her hind legs and placed her paws on his shoulders for balance. She took his neck into her mouth.

"Oh, she wants the necklace back to change,"

Mustang tossed him the necklace, happy to be rid of it.

"Kathryn, are you relaxed?"

She nodded.

"Kat?"

She snorted at him with a glare.

"Kat," he said sternly.

She plopped down to the ground, head on paws and grumbling. Ed clasped the necklace back on, her back arched, the snaps echoed in the large room. The minute she was human again she ran over to Mustang and punched him in the face. "You jackass!" she screamed as she grabbed his collar and slammed him into the wall. "What's keeping me from tearing out your throat right now!"

"When you said wolf attack, is this what happened?"

She mumbled something that even she couldn't hear.

"What?"

She slammed her fist into the wall next to his head. "I said I don't know!" she shouted, finally admitting it to herself. "We don't know what happened," she said, her voice getting quieter. Her hand slid from the wall to his chest. "We don't know, so we can't fix it," she said. She slumped to the floor, falling on all fours. "I'm stuck like this. And I can't do anything about it… You might as well send me to the lab, Colonel. You'd get a nice promotion for finding a fine specimen such as myself, and maybe they could find a cure for me…" she muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Kat!" Edward shouted.

"Don't talk like that!" Alphonse finally spoke.

"It's the truth, boys. Weather you like it or not, she probably would be better off in the lab. But, I won't be the one to send her there," he said finally sitting at his desk. "You two, leave, go eat something. I need to speak with the Major alone,"

"But Mustang-

"Isn't there a battle you should be getting ready for, Fullmetal?"

He looked at the floor. "Yes, Colonel," he said and they both left.

"Stand up soldier. You look pathetic," Mustang said angrily.

"I can't help that I've become a freak. My life is completely fucked up and I don't even know where to start," she muttered.

"Well you're in luck, because I might have an idea. Now get up, wipe your tears, and get over here,"

She stood up from the floor and wiped the few tears she had shed. "How did you know?"

"I know what a silent sob looks like. I'm not the cold-hearted bastard you two make me out to be,"

"Don't tell Ed. I'm not supposed to be crying, but even walls have cracks that get too big…"

"What, did he make you swear you wouldn't cry?"

"No. I swore to him when he burnt down his house that I wouldn't cry until they were happy tears. So far so good until just now,"

"I won't tell him. Come over here. I need to verify something,"

She walked over and sat down on the desk. Mustang stood from his seat and reached for her face. She growled at his hand. "You're not going to bite me are you?"

"Trust me, if I wanted to bite you, I would have already. What are you planning on doing?"

"I want to look at your scars,"

"You sure about that? They look worse up close,"

"Yes I'm sure," he replied. She sighed and let him brush her hair away from her face. "Do you know a general order of when you got them?"

"No, I was attacked by at least five or six wolves at a time,"

"Then you are one tough recruit. I'm happy you're in my command,"

"Please stop with the damn praise. I feel uncomfortable as is," she said rolling her eyes.

"What about this big one?"

"The one down the middle? I'm not sure, but I think that's from the first wolf. I'm sure he attacked first and that's why the wound was so deep,"

"Hmm… I need you to change back into a wolf," he told her, starting to undo the clasp of her necklace.

"What? No! I'm not doing it again!" she said grabbing his arm.

"If you want your normal body back, then I need to figure out if I was right. And the only way to do that is for you to change back into your wolf state,"

"I hate you right now you know that?"

He undid the clasp and pulled away. "Wait!" she shouted grabbing onto the key before it left her body.

"What now?"

"I don't want to be in any more pain than necessary. I have to relax. It's very painful, since I have to grow a tail, extend my spine, and shift my joints. Those cracks that you hear when I shift are actually my bones. That's why Ed checked three times that I was relaxed," she said hopping off the desk. "You should sit down so this is easier. You weren't to close when you took off my necklace the first time, but you will be a lot closer now. I don't know how bad it gets. The way that Ed looked at me when I first changed, I won't be forgetting it anytime soon,"

"Well, his girlfriend changed into a wolf," he said sitting down. "If you were my girl, I think I would be screaming in terror,"

She got down on the floor, holding herself up with an arm. "When I pounced on you, you looked pretty close to tears,"

"Well, I thought a wolf was going to tear out my vocal chords and eat them for breakfast,"

"That's stupid," She said taking a deep breath. "We prefer the heads over all else," she said as she let go of the key. Then she was in her wolf form.

He knelt on the floor next to her and moved her fur away from her scar. "Hmmm…"

She whined in his ear, as if to say, 'What is it?'.

"Your fur… It's so soft!" he exclaimed rubbing his face in her fur. She growled at him and he pulled back. She pawed the top of his head.

"Does that mean, You suck?" She barked and pushed his shoulder with her paw. "Now you're getting it?"

She nodded and smiled, wolfishly. She sniffed the air and growled. Then shook her head and pawed her face.

"What is it?"

She thought for a moment before jumping up to the desk and grabbing a pen in her mouth. She began to write on her folder.

"R… L… No, I? Z, Riza?" Mustang asked. She nodded.

"Come on Hayate, what's the matter?"

"You don't have enough time to change back. You are now my pet wolf!" Mustang said pointing at her. He quickly sat down in his chair and hid her folder. Kathryn curled up on the floor like a dog would.

"Colonel, were you talking to someone?" Hawkeye asked as she walked through the door.

"Me? No,"

"Here are the reports you asked for," she said as she walked around the desk. She jumped, dropping the folders and pulled out her gun, pointing it at Kat. Kat yawned and sat up, glaring at Hawkeye.

"So I see you've met my new pet," Mustang said with a smirk.

"Colonel! What were you thinking! A wolf for a pet? Where did you get it?"

"I got her in the woods. Where all wolves are," he said innocently.

"Did you think for a second that this thing might have rabies, or could turn on you at any second?"

"Wolfy won't do that," Mustang said.

Kathryn snorted. _How original…_ she thought rolling her eyes. She stood and turned to Mustang.

That's when Riza fired the gun.

* * *

**DUN DUN DUN DUUUUNNNNNNNNNNN**


	12. Chapter 12

**God dammit I did it again. **

**I keep saying I'll post and then I never do...**

**Okay, for the purpose of what I'm about to do, you must all pretend that this was posted on Sunday, Comprendo?**

**YAY! ONWARD!**

* * *

Kathryn howled out in pain.

"Major!"

"Major?"

She limped over to Mustang and nodded her head with a whimper. She put her head on his lap.

"Are you sure?" he asked. She snuffed and he grabbed the necklace from his desk. "Are you relaxed?"

She lifted her hind leg. "Right. You're relaxed as you can get…" he figured. He reached around Kat and fumbled with the clasp.

"Colonel, why are you giving jewelry to a dog?" Hawkeye asked.

"Because this is no ordinary dog," he said as he connected the clasp. She turned back into a human with only the snapping of her bones and fell over on the floor. "This is Major Kathryn Rockbell,"

Hawkeye backed away. "What the-

"God dammit!" Kathryn shouted as she gripped her thigh. "You had to shoot me in the thigh, didn't you?" she muttered. She was panting and a thin sheen of sweat was on her forehead. "No more changes for today. I'm tired," she whispered. She fingered the hole before digging into it with a wince and a gasp.

"What are you doing!" Riza shouted.

"They can trace this bullet back to you. Our story is that a bullet came in through the window and hit me in the leg. I pulled out the bullet thinking I was fine. It hit a vein, I'm sure of it. So the second I pull this thing out, get me to the infirmary. Riza, you're going to have to get rid of the bullet," she breathed in deeply. "Break the window," she commanded.

Riza flipped her gun over in her hand and smashed the window with the butt.

"Colonel, help me up," Kathryn rasped with her fingers still in her thigh. He pulled her up and she held onto his arm. She wrenched the bullet out with a gasp and tossed it to Riza. Blood spurted from the hole and began to run down her leg. "Oh good, I'm bleeding a lot. This makes our job so much easier,"

She leaned against the desk, blood spreading out on the papers and dripping from the edge. "Sorry about the mess. Take the money for cleaning out of my research funds," she sighed. "Now, carry me to the infirmary kicking and screaming,"

"The things I do for you three…" he muttered. He picked her up, holding her close to his chest, and walked over to the door.

"Lights, camera, action," Kat whispered.

He kicked open the door and ran outside. "I need a medic!" he called out. He looked over at a random person. "You there! Call the infirmary and tell them to get ready,"

"Colonel! I'm fine! Put me down!" Kathryn said as she wiggled around in his arms.

He turned and ran down the hallway. "You are not fine, Second Lieutenant! You are severely injured!"

"I am a Major now! Put me down, I'm fine!" she shouted. "Ohh…"

"What is it,"

"My head…" she said, putting her hand to her forehead. "You better hurry up, Colonel. It's dizzy and I'm going black,"

He ran faster than he thought he could. He burst into the infirmary to a nurse who was waiting for him.

"Colonel Mustang! We just got a call. Put her here," she said, motioning to the gurney.

He set her down and they rushed her inside.

"Colonel, can you tell me what happened?"

He took off his jacket and gloves which were now red with blood. "We were in my office discussing her success in becoming a state alchemist when a bullet flew in through the window. I tried to get her to go down here but she said she was fine and pulled out the bullet. We think it hit a big vein, because when she pulled it out she started spurting blood. I got her down here as fast as I could," he shook his head. "This is my fault,"

"Nothing is your fault, Colonel. Like you said, the bullet came in through the window. We will be able to save her because of your quick thinking. Just be happy. I'll take that and get it cleaned," she said grabbing his jacket and gloves and walked away.

He sighed and sat down on the bench in front of the infirmary. "Soldier!" he called out to someone walking by. He came over and saluted. "I need you to find Edward Elric. He might be in the cafeteria. I need you to get him here as fast as possible. It's very important," he commanded.

The man left leaving Mustang to wait for the inevitable.

* * *

"Mr. Elric!"

"Hmm?" Ed looked up from his food. Someone was running over to him.

"Mr. Elric! I am happy you are where he thought you were. You need to come with me,"

"Wait. Who said I would be here? Where are we going?"

"It was Colonel Mustang. He is in the infirmary waiting for someone to come out of surgery. He said it was important that you get there,"

Ed was out of his seat and running through the halls before he could even finish his sentence. He ran past Mustang's office and saw the droplets of blood. He growled and ran faster to the infirmary.

He saw Mustang sitting on a bench. "You bastard!" he shouted. He punched him in the face with his metal arm, then grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall. "I leave her with you, for not even an hour, and this is what happens!" He pressed him further into the wall. "What the hell happened to her?"

"How many more times are you two going to punch me in the face then shove me up against a wall claiming I'm a bastard.

"Mr. Elric? Is there a Mr. Edward Elric out here?" the nurse from earlier asked.

Ed dropped Mustang who rubbed his jaw. "I'm Ed," he replied.

She flashed a smile at him. "She just got out of surgery. She wants to see you, but you don't have much time. She needs to rest. So make it quick, I'll come and get you when you need to leave," she told him.

"Thank you," he said as she lead him to Kat's room.

There were two guards outside of her room. When he went in, there was one at her window.

"Hey…" she said when he walked in the room. Hey rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug.

"Jesus Christ, Kathryn. What the hell happened?" he asked sitting on the bed.

"The Colonel saved me! It was amazing, I never thought something like that would happen,"

"Kathryn…" he caught the look she gave him and glanced at the guard. "Kat, what happened?"

"Colonel Mustang and I were discussing my state alchemy certification after you left. Lieutenant Hawkeye came in the room and handed some documents to the Colonel. Then a bullet came through the window and hit me in the leg. I was stupid and took out the bullet. They said it hit one of the main veins in my leg. So the Colonel took me to the infirmary, he saved my life,"

"I highly doubt you could have died from a bullet to the leg,"

"You never know, Ed. These things can happen so fast. If you don't know what to do, then you can die," she said. She sighed and looked at her hands folded over her lap. "They think that since the bullet came through the window that either of us could have been targeted. That's why I have the guards here. I've never felt so important! It's exciting," she mocked.

He shook his head at her. "Did they say when you could be released?"

"No. But I don't think it will be for a while. It was a pretty bad would. Wanna see?" She threw the blanket off of her and pulled up her pant leg. The guard coughed from his place at the window. She giggled and pulled the leg back down.

"Ms. Rockbell. How many times have I told you, you are not leaving that bed! Be a dear and cover her up before she gets cold," the nurse said, coming back into the room.

"That's my signal to leave, and for you to get some rest," Ed whispered.

She laid down and let him tuck her in. She giggled. "I'm not two,"

"Could have fooled me," he replied with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said giving her a light kiss.

She grabbed him and pulled him back down into another kiss. The guard cleared his throat uncomfortably and they broke. "I should go now,"

She smiled. "See you tomorrow,"

He kissed the top of her head and left the room. He got outside and grabbed Mustang by the arm. "We need to talk in private. I know,"

"She told you?"

He shook his head. "Private," he said with a glance around.

They went to his office. "Lieutenant, did she get any on the carpet?"

"They just finished cleaning,"

"Good,"

"Should I leave?" she asked with a glance at Ed.

"No,"

"Colonel. What happened?" Ed asked.

"First, tell me how you know that the story was a lie?"

"My girlfriend is an excellent actor. There were two guards stationed outside her room and one by the window. The first thing she did was call you Colonel. She doesn't call you Colonel unless it's followed by Jackass.

Secondly, she talked about you like she was a major fangirl. "The Colonel saved my life, Ed." Bunch of bullshit. She would never say that.

She also called herself stupid. She never admits that. EVER. She also said that being watched was exciting and that she never felt so important. She knows for a fact that's not true and she hates being under constant surveillance. She even hates it when I watch her. She also showed me the bullet hole,"

"Shouldn't it have been wrapped up?" Hawkeye asked.

"That's what I thought. But when she pulled up her pant leg, there was nothing there. She even fingered the spot where it should be. There was nothing but smooth skin there," he sighed. "She was also a giggling buffoon. Kathryn Rockbell does _not_ giggle. Never has in the entire time I've known her,"

Mustang sat down in his chair. "Lieutenant, when will my window be fixed?"

"They called for a new one. The repair man should be here tomorrow,"

"Good. Okay Ed. Here is the real story. I asked her to shift back into her wolf form to check on something. Hawkeye came in before she had a chance to change back. When Hawkeye saw her, she pulled her gun, thinking Kathryn was a wild animal. When she turned to me, Hawkeye shot, thinking it was for my safety. Kathryn came over to me and had me put the necklace on, so Riza does know about her. She then came up with the whole story of the bullet through the window.

She had the lieutenant break the window then pulled the bullet out of her leg, knowing full well that it hit the vein. They can track the bullets so she didn't want to risk anything. She then had me take her to the infirmary while Riza disposed of the bullet. Speaking of which, what did you do with it?"

"I still have it. I will dispose of it when I get home," she explained.

"Good. Now, Ed. What do you have to say?"

"That I have a fight-

The phone rang, stopping his sentence. "Hold that thought," Mustang said picking up the receiver. "Colonel Mustang. Yes. Yes, he's right here. Yes. Uhuh. I will tell him. Thank you," He put the phone back on the hook and sighed. "Your fight has been canceled,"

"What?"

"Since your girlfriend is in the hospital, they figured it would be an unfair fight seeing as you might be distracted,"

"They can't cancel the fight can they?"

"No, but they can replace the alchemist. I have to go fight the guy. If you'll excuse me," he said walking past Ed.

"Mustang," Ed reached out and grabbed his arm. "The guy I was going to fight, she hates his guts. I want you to burn him to a crisp, seeing as I can't pound him into the ground for her."

Mustang smirked at his request. "Will do, Fullmetal. Now, go home and get some rest,"

"Sure. Hey, Colonel?"

"Hmm?"

"Is it okay if I bring Kathryn her file. I don't think she wants to wait any longer than necessary,"

"Sure,"

Mustang walked out and Hawkeye walked up to Ed. "Edward, I- I'm sorry about what happened. I didn't know-

"You were protecting your loved one. I would have done the same thing. I don't blame you, and since she went through the trouble of risking her life by taking out the bullet to cover for you, I don't think she blames you either,"

"M-my loved one? You don't understand I don't-

"Kat told me a while back. She's a girl so she sees things that others don't. She knows you care about him. Now, go make sure he kicks some ass,"

She nodded and followed after Mustang.

He grabbed Kat's file off the desk and went back to the infirmary where Alphonse was waiting.

"Brother, how is she?"

"She's fine Alphonse. She will probably get out tomorrow,"

"Okay. That's good,"

"Alphonse. When she gets back, we'll explain to you what happened. Or at least everything we know about what happened to her. She knows more about what's happening than I do,"

"I understand, brother. You don't have to tell me. I think I'll go stay with the Hughes' tonight. You can stay wit Kathryn,"

"Alphonse, when did you grow up?"

"When I got taller than you," he joked. Then he left.

Edward went into Kat's room and sat down in the chair next to her bed. She woke up and smiled at him. "I thought we said see you tomorrow," she whispered.

"I thought this was important enough to push the date," Ed replied holding up her folder.

"Can we open it?"

"Mustang gave the go,"

She sat up in her bed and grabbed the folder. She opened it and pulled out the paper on top. "This official document certifies that the nation of Amestris, prefecture of the Generalissimo appoints the name Scarred to Kathryn Rockbell in the name of Führer King Bradley," she said. She finished reading the letter to herself. "The Scarred Alchemist, huh? Couldn't have been more of an asshole in choosing the name…" she muttered. She looked at Ed. "But I think I could make it work," she smiled.


	13. Chapter 13

**I'M BAACCKKKK!**

**Soooo... In honor of Fullmetal Day, (which is today if you didn't know... And if you didn't? GET THE FUCK OUT AND NEVER COME BACK) I have decided to post three chapters in honor of October 3rd. (See what I did there?)**

**If you didn't know... 101 years ago in a different dimension on this very day, Edward and Alphonse burned down their house to show that they could never look back, only keep moving forward in their journey.**

**Awwwww fuck. THE FEELS ARE BACK! SOMEONE SAVE ME WITH A PLEASANT FUCK!**

**"I'll do it!"**

**"Edward Elric! When did you get here!?"**

**"Not sure... But you look like you could use a good shag..."**

***Drool...* *Wipes spit off of keyboard.**

**SHUT UP! I CAN FANTASIZE ABOUT ANIME CHARACTERS! THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT!**

**Okay, I'm starting to go insane... mehehehe...**

**Also, these next two chapters are dedicated to my avid reader, Moemon-Master. A while back he made a three-shot for me about Barry the Chopper because I had too much on my plate, so I asked him to do it. And now I am returning the favor. Here ya go!**

**Thanks for reading so far my lovelies and I shall see you in a few.**

* * *

Kathryn was released the next day, to the surprise of many with the exception of a certain few.

First she called up the house and told Winry and Granny how they were doing, something Ed and Al never did. She left out the parts about her becoming part wolf, something she would tell them in person. _If _she ever did tell them. She told them about her becoming an alchemist and that the phone calls wouldn't be as frequent as they were.

Then they all went around town and did some shopping. They got a few extra sets of clothes in case they needed to change into something less conspicuous. Kathryn made Ed go to the tool store so they could grab a few things for their auto-mail and some oil for Al's armor. They visited a few "friends" of Kat's to see if anyone knew anyone who was good with bio alchemy.

"_Our bodies won't be growing back on their own. We need some help. There has to be someone with at least a good understanding of biological alchemy. It would be a whole lot more than we know,"_

They said that a man named Shou Tucker is a good guy to turn to. But none of them knew where he was or how to find him.

That is why they stood back in Mustang's office.

"We need to find Shou Tucker," Kat said, getting straight down to business as usual.

"Why do you need to find him?"

"We want to learn more about bio-alchemy. We heard he might be able to help," Ed replied.

"Hmmmm…" Mustang thought. "Kathryn, have you had a chance to look at your file yet?" Mustang asked as he walked over to his bookcase.

"Yes, and may I say that I am quite pleased."

"Oh really? I'm sure that you brought your file with you, am I wrong?"

"No, I have it," she said pulling out her file and handing it to Mustang. "You're not going to break my necklace again, are you?" she asked sarcastically.

"And risk having my beautiful face ripped to shreds? No thank you," he replied in the same sarcastic tone.

He pulled out her papers and chuckled. "The Scarred Alchemist, huh? I guess the Führer does have a sense of humor," he said as he dug into his desk. He tossed her the pocket watch and watched as she clipped it to her pants and shoved it in her pocket.

"I guess for short you can call me Scar. Be a hell of a lot easier," Kathryn said. _Scar. You rat bastard. You knew…_

Turning to his bookcase, he pulled out a file. "Shou Tucker is the Sewing-Life Alchemist. He lives in East City with his daughter. I'm being transferred tomorrow back to the East so I will introduce you."

"Wait, you're being transferred? When were you going to tell me about this! Is everyone else going too?"

"As a state alchemist, you are not tied to any one command unless you still pursue the military ranks. You said it yourself, you'd have a longer leash if you were an alchemist. But yes, everyone else is going. Well, everyone that counts."

"Like Falman and Breda?"

"And the rest of them. So, Scar," Mustang said with a smirk, "Would you like to hear my analysis of what happened to you?"

"Fuck yes!" she shouted. "We should have started out with this!"

"Calm down, Wolfy."

"Oh yeah, that was very original. So happy that I follow you and not some other idiot…" Kathryn muttered.

"I didn't get much time to think about it. Now, you said that the pack leader gave you the big cut in the middle, correct?"

"Yup."

"I figure that since that wound is the only one that carries itself over to your wolf body, that cut is what gave you the ability to change. I also think that since you are a chimera, and not a real wolf, you have super healing or something. I want to test this theory, but I'm afraid that Edward will react badly to it."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to cut open your hand. Doesn't have to be huge, just big enough to bleed," Mustang replied.

"Are you fucking crazy! You're asking her to cut open her fucking hand, for what? A theory?"

"Edward, just shut up," Kathryn said as she pulled a knife out of her boot. She ran the blade through the fleshy part of her right hand before they could even blink.

"Kat!"

"Ed, don't. It's a theory that needs to be tested. It's the only lead we have," Kat said, holding her hand as the blood pooled in it and ran down her arm.

Mustang tossed her a towel. "Wipe it up. I guess I was right."

"About?" Kathryn asked wrapping the towel around her hand.

"Well, I'm not sure about the fur color, it might just be for camouflage purposes, but I also think that your eyes are green instead of blue because when you're a wolf, they are yellow. Add yellow to blue and what do you get?"

"Green…" Kat muttered. "That still doesn't explain why you had me slice open my hand."

"You got shot when you were a wolf. So what I'm thinking, is that if you are injured as a wolf, it heals it for you so you can protect yourself. Or something like that. You just injured yourself as a human, yet you're still bleeding and or you wound is still open. You you have a super healing sort of thing as a wolf. Make sense?"

"Actually? Yes. It does…" Kat replied. "So I have to wonder…"

"What?"

"If that Alpha is what gave me this thing, what if it's just like being a werewolf? I know they're not real, but follow the legends. They say the only way to cure lycanthropy is to kill the wolf that bit you. So if I killed that chimera…"

"You wouldn't be a wolf anymore… It's worth a shot. But there's one problem with that theory."

"What? Ed it's fool-proof."

"Where's the Alpha?"

"I-" Kat started. "Eww… crap," she sighed. "Dammit. That means we're back at square one."

"More like square two. With all this information, we are definitely past square one, which was having no clue about what was happening," Mustang said.

"I guess you're right," she sighed. "We'll stop by tomorrow morning then so we can catch the train. See you then," Kat said with a salute.

Mustang raised an eyebrow at her. She sighed. "Just because I was badass for a while doesn't mean I forgot my military training," she said as she stuck her tongue out at him. Then they left.

They walked down the street. Just walking. Ed and Al kept quiet and let the new information sink into Kathryn. She thought about everything she just learned.

Kathryn moved without thinking through the crowd. She trusted her wolf to move her while she was in her own world. They let her lead, sure that she knew what she was doing. She led them to a park. Then she turned around.

"Can you two go home? I need to think by myself for a bit. Plus you two haven't spent much time together."

"You sure?" Ed asked.

"Yeah. Go, I'll be back soon," she said giving him a pat on the arm. She turned and continued through the park.

She sat down on one of the benches and watched the little kids playing. She smiled as she though back to when she, Winry, Edward, and Alphonse used to play like that.

She sighed and thought of what would be happening if Ed and Al never tried to bring back their mother. They would probably still be in school, or getting jobs in town. Winry might never had started to be an auto-mail mechanic. Life would have been fairly normal.

But then, Ed and Al would have never learned alchemy if they were normal, because if they never tried to bring back their mother, they would have to have never learned of a way to bring her back. She thought that Ed would be very different. She shook her head.

She didn't want a different Ed. She loved _her _Ed. She wouldn't trade him for anyone or anything.

She looked back at the kids playing. _I want kids one day. _She decided. She sighed and stretched and walked away. She wandered down the streets. They were suddenly crowded so she jumped into an alley.

She walked down the back ways until she thought she was close to the hotel. She stopped and looked up to the sky. She heard a noise from behind her and turned around. There was nothing in the alley. She trusted her ears more than ever now that she was a wolf. She broke the chain on her necklace and dropped it. With a crack was in her wolf form.

_Sweet! It doesn't hurt anymore and I go super-fast. I'll start working on holding it back next, _she thought with triumph. She looked around the alley again with sharper eyes and ears. She didn't see or hear anything. She picked up the key and ran through the back streets until she made it to the hotel.

_How am I going to get in? _She wondered as she looked at the building. She wandered around a bit until it hit her. _We're still on the first floor. I'll just find the window. _

A rain drop hit her nose. She looked up to the clouds as they rolled in. She ran around the building, sniffing the windows until she found the one that smelt like Ed and Al. She barked and pawed at the window.

It opened and Ed looked out. "Hey, what happened?"

It started to pour. Kathryn shook the water out of her fur multiple times before she gave up with a whine.

"Come on in," Ed said backing away from the window. She looked up and down the alley before jumping in through the window. Ed came over with some towels and shut the window.

He tossed the towels on her back before she could shake the water out of her fur and spray it all over the hallway. He toweled her off as much as he could before putting the necklace back on her. She grabbed one of the towels and began to dry her hair some more.

"Thanks. I wasn't sure what would happen if I walked through the lobby," she joked.

"Why did you even change in the first place?" Alphonse asked.

"The streets got crowded so I went through the alleys. I heard a noise so I changed and ran back here. I'm not sure what it was either, but I know there was something."

"Okay, well your fine. That's what counts," Ed told her.

"Yeah…" she said with a glance out the window. "I'm going back out. I need to get out of here. I'll be back around two," she said with a glance over her shoulder.

"Kat-

"Don't try to follow me, Ed. Meet me back at headquarters," she said as she shut the door.

She walked out of the lobby into the rain and ran around back, making sure to duck under her window. She ran back through the alleys until she reached the spot where she changed. She sniffed around a bit ignoring the urge to dig through the trash cans.

She looked behind a dumpster and found a piece of cloth soaked in blood. She took a sniff of it and slapped herself for drooling. It was pig blood.

"I knew I heard something…" she whispered.

She tucked it in her pocket and sniffed around the area until she picked up the scent of a person. She ran through the back alleys until the trail stopped at a door. She walked out of the alley to the street and looked at the front.

"Butcher shop?" she wondered out loud.

She walked up to the front door and read the sign.

CLOSED

She tried the door and it was locked. She walked back around to the loading dock. There was a van parked near the door. She opened the back of the van and gaged. It stunk of blood.

Human blood.

She grimaced and shut the door. She turned around and tried the door to the building. It opened with a small creak. She glanced around. She gave a low growl and took off her glove. She undid one of the screws on her hand and dropped it next to the door.

She walked into the shop and nearly lost it.

There was blood splattered everywhere, some of it animal, some of it human. She took a few more steps in when the door shut. She turned around and glanced around the room. There was no movement, but there was a smell. Fresh.

"I know you were in the alley watching me. Personally, I would like to know why, but I can settle with kicking your ass," she called out into the room.

A sniffle came from the corner. She walked over and found a woman huddled there.

"Dude, don't you think you should have chained yourself up somewhere? I think that would be more convincing," she said to the woman.

"What do you mean? Please, you have to help me! There's a mad man in here," the woman whispered, her breath fogging in the cold.

"Oh drop the act already. I know it's you. Just shut up and tell me why you were spying on me already so I can be on my way," Kathryn sneered. She turned her back to the woman and shoved her hands in her pockets.

"Well, I guess there's no fooling you is there Wolfy? That's right, I know," the woman said, her voice now deep.

"Yes, and I have a great sense of smell, my good sir. Now tell me why you were following me before I tear out your throat."

The man stood up. "Fresh meat," he simply said as he brought a club down on Kathryn, knocking her to the ground out cold. He pulled off his wig and smiled. "I think I'm going to have some fun with you."


	14. Chapter 14

**ARRRGGGGG I'm FUCKING INSANE! **

**I am literally typing this up on my bed in tears because of the feels from Fullmetal Day and the fact that I am so fucking proud of this story and I'm also looking at Fullmetal Day photos and gif sets on Tumblr and I CAN'T ESCAPE IT ARRRGGGG!**

**Anywhoo... Break from insanity. Part two of the Barry the Chopper plot. Again Moemon, this one's for you.**

* * *

Kathryn came to strapped to a chair. Her left arm was missing and her other arm tied very tightly to her body.

She glanced around the room, happy to have the internal fur to keep her warm in this freezer. A small table was placed in front of her, a small overhead lamp lighting up the surface. There were several different weapons, varying from meat cleavers, steak knives, and hack saws. Each weapon, from what she could see, had dried blood on them.

She grimaced at the thought of all the helpless victims that were probably carved open or hacked to pieces with those knives.

"So you're awake?" the man from earlier said. He walked from the shadows of the room with a knife in one hand, a sharpener in the other.

Kathryn winced every time he rubbed them together. He set the knife down on the table and looked thoughtfully at the others. "What are you going to do to me?" Kathryn asked.

The man turned around and threw a knife into the wood of the chair. It cut into a bit of Kat's side, a small line of blood falling down her body. "You probably don't want to know. But I love to see the fear in people's eyes. So I will tell you," he replied as he picked up another knife and walked over to Kat. He cut the left strap of her tank and dragged the knife across her upper chest to the other one. He cut that one and watched it as it fell. Then he placed the tip under her chin and lifted her gaze to his. "I'm going to cut you into pieces."

He walked away and looked at his knives again. "What happened to my arm?" Kat asked him, showing no fear. _I won't let him have the satisfaction of hearing me scream,_ she thought.

"I saw your pocket watch. I heard that there were now two alchemists who could transmute just by clapping. One shorty with braided blonde hair, and the first female state alchemist. So I took some precautions," he explained lifting her arm off the table.

He grabbed a knife that was slightly bigger than the last one. He came back over and slashed her cheek. Kat didn't even flinch.

"I guess you're tougher than they said. Fine, then I guess I'll make you beg," he said as he slammed the blade into her thigh.

She gasped and snarled at him. She flexed her hand and tried to think of anything but the pain. She tried to move her hand to grab her chain, tried leaning her head forward to grab it with her teeth.

"I flipped your necklace over your shoulder so you couldn't get it," he said as he pushed the knife further into her leg. "I saw you change with that thing. I won't let you go wolf on me."

He yanked the knife out of her leg and she growled ferociously at him. He smiled and walked back over to his table. He grabbed a pair of bolt cutters and walked back over. Kathryn's eyes widened when he kneeled next to the chair and grabbed her hand.

"Maybe this will make you scream if I go slow enough," he said struggling to grab her finger. He managed to get one and put it in the cutter. He slowly squeezed until he stopped because they heard a noise from inside the shop.

* * *

Ed was at headquarters at 2:30 and Kat still wasn't there.

"Hey Ed. Instead of looking like a lost puppy, why don't you help me with this case? Maybe a new pair of eyes would help," Hughes said from the other side of the lunch table.

Ed glanced at him, glanced back at the clock, then sighed. "All right, Hughes. I'll take a look."

Hughes handed him a folder. "Someone has been brutally murdering women in the area. They've been slashed, ripped, and chopped into pieces. There was never enough blood at the crime scene so we think they were transported to the dump site from another area," Hughes said solemnly.

Ed glanced at the pictures of the murder victims, not being able to look at them for more than a minute. "Are there any patterns?" he asked.

"Just the fact that they are all dismembered women, no."

"Hmm…" he wondered. He scratched his head. "Only women?"

"Only women. We've found more blondes than any others, but we think that was just coincidence."

"Blondes?" Ed asked worriedly. _Kathryn's a blonde. And a girl._ He shook his head. _Kathryn can handle herself. So wouldn't get caught by some serial killer. She's part wolf for fucks sake! She would be able to sense someone-_

His thoughts were cut off by a memory.

"_I heard a noise so I changed and ran back here. I'm not sure what it was either, but I know there was something."_

"Shit, Kathryn," he said slamming the folder shut and sliding it back to Hughes. "I think she's in trouble," he said as he ran out of the cafeteria.

He got to the front of the building and stopped. There were black tire tracks on the ground. He looked over to see the loading dock to the cafeteria. "Excuse me!" he shouted to someone from the kitchens. "What was parked here?"

"The delivery van that that pretty lady uses," the man swooned. "She always parks there when she drops things off for the kitchen."

"Thanks," Ed said as he ran off. He ran back to the motel and into the back alleys. "Kathryn, you weren't going to sit until you knew what was back here, were you?" he muttered. He slowed down after a while and found foot prints in some mud that seeped through the cracks in the bricks.

He looked at his boot and found they were identical patterns, meaning they were Kat's. They had the same shoe, only hers were higher up on her leg to make them more feminine. He followed the trail until it stopped, which was in the middle of the alley. He continued forward until he ended up at the back of a shop. The freezer truck had the same tires as the one from outside headquarters. He looked in the back and found a lot of blood, some he was sure was human. He shut the door and walked up the steps. Something on the ground caught his eye and he glanced down. He picked up the item and realized it was a small screw.

He thought he had seen it from somewhere and pulled off some of his glove. The screws were identical.

"Smart girl, Kat," he whispered, tucking the screw into his back pocket. He moved to the door and opened it slowly, wincing as it creaked on its hinges. He stepped inside and shivered at the cold that bit his skin.

He walked through the darkness of the room until he walked into something. A dead pig hung from the ceiling by some chains.

He walked around it and heard someone. He quickened his pace a bit, hoping it was Kat. He came to a table pushed up against the wall and a woman hiding behind it. She had long brown hair that fell in waves past her shoulders and a light green dress with brown shoes. She was shivering uncontrollably.

"Mam? Are you okay? Are there any others?"

The woman nodded her head and pointed to the other side of the room. "A young girl, blonde… you have to help her…"

Ed's eyes widened. He helped the woman up and looked around. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here-

His words were cut by a club smashing against his head. His world went dark.

* * *

Ed woke up strapped to a chair with metal chains.

The woman from earlier stood at the table. "So you're up. I hope you don't mind, I removed your arm… Can't have you escaping with alchemy," she said as she turned around and pulled of her wig. The man smiled and held up his arm. "Hello, I'm Barry and welcome to my butcher shop. The last place you will be seeing before you die."

Barry set the arm back on the table next to another.

"That arm… Where did you get it!" Ed exclaimed.

"Your body, duh."

"No! The other one! The smaller, left-handed one! Where is she, what did you do with her!"

"Oh… So you _do _know her. I was hoping I didn't grab her for nothing. Yes, I'll enjoy chopping her to pieces like all the others, but I was hoping she would bring you with. I thought you would be fun to chop up too," Barry replied menacingly.

"What did you do to her you bastard!" Ed shouted.

"Now now, no need for name calling, I've done nothing to her, yet," he said as he moved over to some chains. He pulled on a loose one until Kathryn was pulled out of the shadows.

Her feet dragged across the floor as she was pulled into view, her back to Ed and Barry. Barry walked over and turned her around and she held weakly onto the chain to keep it from digging into her wrist.

"Wake up now, I didn't think I hit you that hard. Please wake up, there is someone here to see you," Barry said lifting her chin. Kathryn did nothing, so he back-handed her, hard.

Ed struggled against his chair. "Kathryn!"

"Ed…" She looked at him through blood soaked hair, her lip was split and the cut from earlier had just stopped bleeding. Ed saw how she stood with most of her weight on one leg and saw the tear in her pants.

"You sick bastard! What did you do to her!" Ed yelled.

Barry punched Kathryn and Ed growled. "What did I say about the name calling? Another mean word and I might have to continue with her and chop off her fingers one, by, one," Barry said. "Wouldn't you like that, sweetheart?"

Kathryn looked up at him and spit blood in his face. "Go to hell," she growled.

"Feisty, I like it," Barry said as he wiped the blood from his face and getting close and personal to Kat.

"Why are you doing this!" Ed shouted. Maybe he could get Barry away from Kat long enough for her to think of something.

"That's an interesting question…" Barry thought for a moment. "I guess I just like the feeling of flesh underneath my blade. You see, the first person I killed was my wife," he started. He turned away from them and Kat straightened.

She tugged at the chain but it wouldn't budge. She smiled before scowling again and stared at Ed and jerked her head up. Ed watched as she drew a circle and then a star on the chains. He smiled and nodded, scooting his hand as far as he could into his back pocket for the screw that Kat dropped.

"After I cut her up, I saw how finely my blade could shred her to pieces and I wanted more. More people to cut, to watch my blade cut through their stomachs and watch them as they held their innards off the floor," Barry said as he grabbed one of his bigger meat cleavers.

"Why would you murder someone for a reason as stupid as that! At least others have jealousy and rage. What's your reasoning!" Ed shouted.

Barry turned around, an unseen craziness in his eyes. Kathryn slumped back against the chain holding her up, trying to convince Barry that she wasn't a threat.

"Because I can," he said as he walked towards Ed. "Anyone can commit murder. Men have morals, but send them to war and they have no problem killing someone who was innocent, whether it be a man, woman, or child. They can kill each other in the most unimaginable ways possible and not feel an ounce of remorse, you know why?"

"Do I even want to know?" Ed growled.

Barry swiped out the cleaver and stuck it in Ed's shoulder. He gasped and felt the blood flow from the wound to the floor with a steady drip.

"No!" Kathryn screamed. "Leave him alone you sick bastard!"

"Because we all want to kill. Some more than others. But most need an approval from the higher-ups to do so. I saw some state alchemists in a village once, slaughtering people with their alchemy. Splat, fountains of blood staining the ground," Barry said over Kathryn's cries. He dug the blade deeper into Ed's shoulder with a smile.

"Ed!" Kat screamed again.

"Shut up!" Barry shouted. He wrenched his blade out of Ed's shoulder and turned to Kathryn. He strode over to her and slapped her again. She spit out blood and clenched her eyes shut. "Do you know that you will have to be a murderer someday, too? You both will," he said with a glance over his shoulder. "That is, if you live. Which you probably won't."

Ed finally got the screw out of his pocket and started engraving the chain.

"Hmmm… It seems I can't get a reaction from your little boyfriend over there," Barry said. He brought his blade back up to Kat's chest and moved out of the way for Ed to see. "Maybe if I did this…" he muttered as he put the tip of the blade at the cut he made earlier and dragged it down, cutting flesh and Kat's tank. He stopped halfway down the valley of her breasts to look at Ed. He sat there staring at Barry with angry eyes, finishing up the circle on the chains.

"Still nothing? Maybe if I cut off her other arm, you would make a peep," Barry said as he raised the cleaver.

"No!" Ed shouted as he touched the circle, breaking the chains. He lunged from the chair and knocked Barry over.

They tumbled to the floor. Barry looked at Ed and took a swing at him. Ed blocked the blade with his foot. Barry looked at his blade, then back at Ed. He took another swing that hit Ed's leg and he looked at his cleaver again.

"Why isn't this cutting!"

Ed flipped himself over and dashed away. He ran around until he reached Kathryn.

"Hurry up and untie me," Kathryn said, looking around the room for Barry.

He reached up and fiddled with the chain. Barry came up behind Ed and poised to strike.

"Duck!" she shouted in warning.

Ed rolled out of the way and Kat grabbed the chains, hoisting herself up with them out of the way of Barry's attack. She dropped back down on Barry's cleaver and kicked his in the face, sending him into the table. One of the arms fell off the table with a clank. Ed stood and grabbed it, running through the freezer.

Barry grabbed a different knife and went after Ed.

Kathryn looked around for ideas. She hopped up on the table and kicked a knife up to her hand. "First try," she muttered and she gave herself as much slack as possible.

She chopped at the chains three times before they broke. She fell forward off the table, slicing open the side of her arm. She stood up and listened, hearing the steady drips of her blood and the heavy breathing of Ed and Barry.

She looked over to the table and grabbed the arm that was still lying on it. She shoved it into her socket…

But it didn't fit.

She looked at the arm and saw it was Ed's. She growled and heard Ed shout. She ran through the freezer until she saw Ed on the floor. Barry was slowly approaching.

She ran over and tackled Barry. In what seemed like slow motion, they tossed each other their arms. Kathryn rolled across the floor with Barry. She plugged in her arm and screamed, alerting Barry. He raised his blade and brought it down on Kat. She raised her arm and deflected the attack.

Ed let out a shout of pain and she kicked Barry away from her. Scrambling to her feet, she took off with Ed.

"Up and over," she shouted.

She jumped over a pig that had fallen on the floor followed by Ed.

Barry ran after them. Not noticing the pig on the floor, he tripped, and impaled himself on his knife.

Kathryn nudged him over with her foot. His knife was lodged into his side. He was still alive, and suffering. He wouldn't die for a while.

Kat turned to Ed. His gaze was anywhere but hers, his eyes filled to the brim with tears.

She choked on a sob and let the tears come. She ran over to Ed and brought him into a death grip. He hugged her back fiercely and stroked her hair.

They both sobbed together. Kathryn's wracked and shook her body, having not cried so hard in a very long time. Edward's were silent and steady, but they were there. Kathryn could feel them mix with hers on her neck.

"It's okay. It's over. We're alive," they both said, both trying to soothe the other.

Neither of them cared that the other was crying. It was a moment of weakness that they could allow.


	15. Chapter 15

**YAYAYAYAYAY! CHAPTER 16 OF PROBABLY 150!**

**No, but Siriusly, if all goes well, there will be at least 130 chapters... And that's if things go well! Imagine if everything was horribly horribly wrong... *shudder***

**Okay! Hope you liked those. Lots of reviews. This will be the last post of the night, so fare thee well my lovelies.**

**About the chapter, this is where Kathryn's past comes out of the dark! FLASHBACKS! But NOT from Kat or Ed! If not... Then from who? READ TO FIND OUT MOTHER FUCKERS!**

* * *

Alphonse and Hughes, along with the police, showed up about five minutes later.

Hughes had realized that the truck from the butcher shop had skipped numerous inspection points. They had gotten there with Barry still alive and put him in custody. He was known as Barry the Butcher and his case became infamous.

Everyone had called Kathryn and Edward heroes for catching him. They all told them they were so brave.

But they would remember it differently.

"He's right. Barry, I mean. He's right," Kathryn whispered as they sat on the steps.

She and Ed sat on the steps of the loading dock with shock blankets draped on their shoulders and cups of cocoa in their hands.

"Right about what?" Ed asked.

"Everyone has the ability to murder. Hell, everyone wants to murder. People want to kill for their country, kill people that piss them off. I'm a murderer. I killed people, Ed. A lot of people. They all had families, children, wives, husbands, parents, so on. They probably went out one day, thinking they would be coming home. Hoping they would be good enough to make it back home. Alive.

And I stopped them. Permanently. And all I needed was the go ahead from society," she said with no emotion. "And I don't regret a single thing, because I was doing it to protect my country. Protect my friends and family,"

"You killed people who you thought would bring harm. They would have killed you. If you think about it, it was self-defense,"

"But that doesn't hide the fact that I still did it," she countered. She shook her head and leaned on is shoulder. He reached his arm around her and rubbed circles on her lower back. She let out a sniffle. "I don't want to do it anymore. Everything he said in there was true. Ed, I don't want to be a murderer!" she cried into his shoulder.

Ed didn't know how to respond. He simply held her close to him, not knowing how else to deal with things. He didn't know how to cope anymore.

* * *

Mustang sat in his office with the lights off and a bottle of whiskey on his desk with a shot glass.

"_I don't want to be a murderer!"_

Kathryn's words echoed through his head.

He thought back to all the murders he had committed.

"She has it easy. She's been in little battles, I've been in full-out wars," he muttered as he downed his shot. He poured another and sighed. "She's so young. Why did I even let her in?" he asked himself as he downed another.

He wondered why he did let her in.

_Mustang marched up the steps of the Rockbell family home. _

_He pounded on the door and a little girl of around 10 opened it. Her hair was long and blonde, her eyes a deep blue. She wore a red tank and worn out jeans with bare feet. She growled. "I won't let you take him!" she shouted, slamming the door in his face._

_Hawkeye came up behind him. "What was that about?"_

_The girl must have heard her because she walked out of the house fuming. _

"_My name is Kathryn Rockbell. I have a twin sister named Winry. My parents were Urey and Sara Rockbell. They were surgeons in the Ishbalan war. They are dead because of the stupid military! Now you're here for Edward. I'm not going to let you take him, so you can march back to Central in you shiny black boots empty-handed!" she shouted. The look she sent them widened their eyes if her speech hadn't._

Mustang smirked at the memory. She had fire back then too. He took another shot.

"_Kathy! get back in the house right now!" an old woman called._

"_Granny! I told you not to call me Kathy! It's either Kathryn or Kat! Pick one!" she shouted back._

"_You did not just use that tone with me."_

"_So what if I did?" Kathryn called back crossing her arms._

"_One, two…"_

"_I'm sorry!" Kathryn screeched as she ran across the porch and jumped over the railings._

"_I'm sorry about my granddaughter. She can be a pain once in a while, but after what this family's been through, it's nice to see that someone is still lively," an old woman said as she walked out of the house. "I'm Pinako Rockbell. I won't let any military personnel into my house until I know who they are and what they want," she said as she moved in the way of Mustang who tried to brush past her._

"_I am the Flame Alchemist, Roy mustang. This is my adjutant Riza Hawkeye," he said trying to hide his annoyance._

"_A dog of the military, eh? And what would someone like yourself be out here for?"_

"_We came to see Edward Elric. We heard he was here and I am here on official military business," he say vaguely._

_Pinako eyed him suspiciously. "Ed isn't up to seeing anyone at the moment."_

"_I don't care," Mustang said as he brushed past her into the house. He walked in to find Edward in a wheel chair looking beaten and broken with a missing arm and leg. He strode up to Ed and grabbed the front of his shirt, holding him off the chair. "What happened there! I saw your house! What did you do!" he shouted at the boy._

"_Let him go Jackass!" Kathryn screamed from the door. She ran into the room to be scooped up by Hawkeye._

_She squirmed in her arms. Getting an idea, she elbowed Riza in the stomach, then slammed the back of her hand into her nose._

_Riza dropped Kathryn and held her nose. It wasn't broken, or bleeding, but it hurt like hell._

"_Kathryn Rockbell!" Pinako yelled at the child._

_Kathryn ran across the room and started punching and kicking Mustang's legs. "You let go of him Jackass! I won't let you take him! Put him down, you're going to hurt him!" she screeched._

_He put Ed back in his chair and looked down on the girl. "Happy?"_

"_No! You're still going to take him and Alphonse away!"_

"_Kathryn…" Ed finally spoke. Kathryn stopped her tantrum to look at the boy. He offered her a faint smile. "It's okay,"_

_Kathryn shook her head, tears spilling over her cheeks. "No it's not Edward Elric! Don't even try to pull that smile with me. I know when you smile and when you don't so don't even try it!" she shouted at the boy. She stared at him some more. "I know you better than I know myself…" she muttered before turning and running up the stairs in tears._

"_Hawkeye, you good?" _

"_Yeah, but I must say. She packs quite the punch," she replied with a sniffle, checking her sinuses._

_He simply laughed._

He had proof that she could pack a punch, at least three. He smiled and took another drink.

That was the first time he had met Kathryn Rockbell, and she made quite the first impression.

The second time he had met her was quite a surprise.

_It had been about three months since he had gone to recruit Edward Elric. Mustang sat behind his desk at Eastern Headquarters. _

_Everyone else sat at their desks doing their work in silence, a small conversation here and there._

_A loud noise came from outside the door and everyone looked up._

_The doors opened to an unfamiliar girl who was fuming._

"_You can't go in there!" someone shouted from the hallway._

_They came up behind her, a big mistake. She turned around and punched him square in the jaw. She turned back to the room and started walking through the aisles. "Jackass! I've got some business with you," the blonde shouted. She had a dark green tank on with a black leather jacket and a pair of holey jeans and black boots._

"_Oh no," both Mustang and Hawkeye said. They now recognized the girl._

"_Kathryn, right?" Mustang said._

"_Shut up. I've got about five minutes before people come barging through that door thinking your life is in danger, which it probably will be if you don't help me out, so you are going to listen," she ordered._

_She slammed her hands down on the desk. "Do I make myself clear?"_

_Mustang gulped loudly. "You wouldn't come in here with a weapon would you?"_

"_No, but I came in here with my fists, and if those don't work, then there is my alchemy. Ed used to teach me and I could use some practice…" she threatened._

"_Tick tock," Mustang replied._

_She smiled. "I need to join the army."_

_His mouth dropped to the floor. "Did I just hear that right? The girl, who three months ago, barged out of her house screaming about how awful the military was and screaming you wouldn't let us take them away, now wants to join those she despises?" He stuck his pinky in his ear and twisted it. "I really need to clean my ears."_

"_Knock it off, you heard me right. I need to get into the military. Now. I can't wait until I'm fifteen. You going to help me?" she fired back._

_He glanced at the door. "Yes."_

"_You leave me no choice," she said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out some chalk. "Wait, did you say yes?"_

"_I like your spark. The only reason I would have said no is because I fear you would climb the rungs faster than I, and see you as a threat. But I see you as an ally."_

_She smiled. Then it turned to a frown. "Shit, I didn't get this far," she said glancing at the door. "How high is your window?" _

"_Fifteen feet at least…"_

"_I'll have to risk it," Kathryn replied. "Thanks for your help. I'll meet you at Madame Christmas's," she said hopping over the desk and breaking out into a full run.  
"Wait a minute," Mustang started. _

_Officers ran into the room and fired at the window as Kathryn jumped through it. She soared through the air. "Hold your fire!" Mustang shouted. He ran over to the window and looked down to see Kat land, jump, and roll to decrease impact._

_She obviously needed to work on it because as she stood she fell to her knees. She gripped her upper arm and he watched as blood seeped through her fingers. She glanced over her shoulder and pulled out her piece of chalk._

_She stood and ran her fastest into an alley. He could barely see her draw on the wall, but he saw it jut out and watched in amusement as the soldiers ran into the wall._

_Hawkeye walked up the window. "Did she make it?" she whispered._

"_She's a smart girl, but severely injured. Madame Christmas wouldn't have let her two feet into her bar, but now I think the girls there will find Kathryn, irresistible."_

"_You have no idea how wrong that sounded," Hawkeye said and walked away. _

"_I didn't mean it like that!" he shouted._

_About a half hour later they all were released from the office. They all gave false descriptions of Kathryn, not wanting her to get in trouble although she asked for it. Mustang made it to the bar. The sign in the window said 'closed'. "That can't be good," Mustang muttered to himself. The bar never closed, ever. Madame Christmas would never close the bar, even if Kat was injured. _It must be bad,_ he thought as he entered._

"_I'm sorry, but the bar is closed right now," someone said from the back room._

"_I bet you can make an exception," Mustang said as he hung his coat and uniform jacket on the coat rack._

"_Roy? Is that you?" a slender girl asked, peeking her head out of the door._

"_How is she, Vanessa?" he asked, walking her direction._

"_Not too good. What happened?"_

"_I'll explain later," he said brushing past the girl and going into the room. _

_Kathryn lay on a bed, Madame Christmas was trying to soothe her while a blonde woman worked on her wounds._

"_Mary, I didn't know you knew medicine," he said shocked._

"_I don't, but I know enough to help this girl," she replied, threading a needle._

"_Just pour some alcohol on it and I'll be good!" Kathryn shouted. "Stitches won't help," she glanced at Mustang. "But flames will," she looked at Sarah. "Thank you, I appreciate what you've done, but I think he can handle it from here."_

"_I won't do it," Roy said._

"_If you don't, I will," she growled._

_He sighed in defeat. "Girls, you can leave. Open the bar back up," he told them._

_They looked at each other with defeat and left the room. "You sure about this?" he asked, taking a seat next to the bed._

"_Not really…" she muttered._

"_Then why are you having me do this?" _

"_Because we need to talk," she said. She grabbed the bottle of whiskey and poured it on the bullet wound with a wince. "I really hope I don't get shot again."_

Mustang chuckled. He looked at his bottle of whiskey. It was the same kind. He drank the rest of the bottle in one swig and tossed it in the trash. He stood and thought of the pain he caused her. He burned her, he got her into the military. Essentially, all of the pain she experience in battle was his fault.

"She's just a kid…"

"_I don't want to be a murderer!"_

"I don't either, but we can't all get what we want," he muttered as he shut off the light to the office. "I wish we could though."

He shut the door and walked home.

Unspoken by all of them, they all agreed to never talk about that day's events ever again.


	16. Chapter 16

**OMG I'M FINALLY IN THE MANGA I'M DYING HERE I DON'T KNOW HOW TO BREATH AND I'M NOT SURE IF YOU GUYS CAN EITHER AHHHHHH!**

**Yes! The day has finally come! AWOJ has finally met her sister, Fullmetal Alchemist, the manga. DUN DUN DUN!**

**So the chapter starts off at number 2. I didn't do 1 cause if you remember, Ed took care of Cornello back when Kat was in rehabilitation.**

**Now, originally this was two chapters, but I was in a fuck it mood, so I made it 1. **

**THERE WILL BE SOME SIRIUS DRAMA FUCKING ALPACAS UP IN HERE SO WATCH YOU FUCKING ASSES AND HOPE YOUR SHOES DON'T GET EATEN!**

**(And now I am off to bed because I obviously am lacking sleep...)**

* * *

The next day they took the train back to East Central.

They sat in the back of a car driving to Shou Tucker's estate.

"Shou Tucker, the "Sewing-life Alchemist"," Mustang read from the folder. "he's a chimera researcher. He got his certification two years ago when he created a chimera that could speak."

"It could speak? A chimera?" Ed asked.

"Ahem?" Kathryn coughed.

"Oh, right."

"Well, now they seem to be more common, but back then everyone was amazed. It only said one thing, though. 'I want to die'. After that, it refused to eat and died soon after. I never saw it, though."

"Well, you've got me, a changeable chimera. So don't feel too bad," Kat joked.

The car pulled up to the curb and parked. "This is where we get out."

They all got out of the car. The house before them looked like a castle. Double chimney, large windows, bricks and perfect shingles.

"This is his house?!" Ed and Kat shouted.

A rustle came from the bushes lining the walk. Kat stepped to the side and when Edward looked over at her questioningly, a large shadow fell over him.

A howl and a scream sounded through the large yard as a large dog jumped on Ed.

"Kathryn… You could have warned me…"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Alexander, you know you're not supposed to jump on people."

They looked to the door to see a little girl in brown pigtails opening the door. "Nina, I told you to keep the dog tied up…" a man with similar brown hair and glasses told the daughter.

They went inside after prying Ed from under the dog.

The house was as charming as the outside, if you looked past all the dust and dirty dishes lying about.

"I'm sorry about the mess. I guess it just lacks a woman's touch. Oh my, that was sexist."

They glanced at Kat. "No harm, no foul. I don't consider myself a girl anymore."

They glanced at Ed and Kathryn laughed.

They sat down in the sitting room. "It's nice to meet you three. I am Shou Tucker, that was my daughter Nina."

"These three are interested in biological alchemy. I figured you might be able to show them some of your research if it's not a problem," Mustang asked.

"It's no problem at all. But I must ask… Why are you interested? I hope you don't mind. Being an alchemist, I think of most things as equivalent exchange. I'll show you what's up my sleeve if you show me what's up yours."

Ed and Kat glanced at each other. "Well, they, uh…"

"Colonel," Kathryn silenced him.

"He has a right to know," Ed said. The undid their jackets and pulled them off. Kathryn glanced at her arm and figured she might as well show him the full set. She brushed her bang out of her face and tucked them behind her ear.

"That's why you are called Fullmetal," he turned his gaze to Kat, "and you Scarred…"

They explained the story. Kathryn left out the involvement of Bradley and told him that it was chimeras.

"So… you lost your mother… And you were attacked by chimeras. That's tough."

Kathryn looked at Edward again. She shrugged.

"My story isn't quite finished," she said as she stood.

"Are you sure?" Mustang asked.

"He should know the full truth. What I'm about to show you, must NEVER leave this room. Ever. Or else I will tear you limb from limb, as will shortly see is very possible."

"I understand."

She broke the chain of her necklace and tossed it at Ed. She transformed into her wolf form with a crack, she dropped to her paws and walked over to Ed. He reclasped her necklace and she sat back down on the couch.

"You… You just…"

"Like I said, I can tear you limb from limb if that ever leaves this room."

Tucker nodded his head.

"Like she said, we can't tell you how important both stories stay in this room. I've told my superiors that Ed lost his limbs in the Civil war and Kathryn came up with a wolf attack as a child."

"Well, as the youngest and the first female alchemist, I don't think the military should lose such brilliant individuals," Tucker replied.

Kat, Ed, and Al let out breaths they didn't know they were holding.

He stood and lead them through the house. "I'm not sure how much use it is, but I can show you my lab."

Kathryn stopped short of the door and growled.

They walked on and Tucker opened the door. They stepped into the room and Kathryn felt the despair of the animals. She wined as she looked around at the animals. She covered her ears and fell to her knees as the chimeras howled, screeched and rattled their cages.

"Stop it!" she shouted as she fell over to her side.

"Kathryn!" Ed shouted. He went over and scooped her into his arms and ran out of the room. He set her down and held her arms. "Kathryn…"

"Those animals… They were so loud… I can't…"

"Shh…" he hushed. He pulled her into a hug and stroked her back. "It's all right."

"They were in such pain… I can still hear them…" she sniffled into his shoulder.

Alphonse and Mustang came out of the room followed by Tucker who shut the door. "Lots of failures, lots of false starts. It's not easy, I'm sorry. I never thought they would react that way…" Tucker apologized. "If you'd like, I can show you my library and file room."

"Library?" Ed and Kat asked at the same time.

They all laughed and forgot about the lab room.

Walking about five doors down, they entered a massive room filled with hundreds of files and books.

"This is incredible…" Ed whispered.

Kathryn just walked into the room, running her fingers along the spines.

"Am I forgiven?" Tucker asked.

"Are you kidding?" Kat asked, whipping her head around. A smile was plastered on her face as she looked at all the shelves. "This is…" she took in a deep breath, inhaling the smell of the books. "You are definitely forgiven," she said as she ran over to a shelf. "I'll start over here," she said taking a book off the rack.

Ed walked forward and grabbed a book off the shelf.

Alphonse walked to the shelves opposite and browsed the books.

"All right then. I have to get back to work, I'll send someone to get you later."

"Thanks," Alphonse replied as he grabbed a book.

Kathryn and Ed just continued to read, their eyes darting across the pages.

"They don't even hear us… It's insane, their ability to focus. It's like we aren't even here…"

"Well, what can you expect? The youngest and the first? I'm not surprised."

"I guess there really is such a thing as a genius," Tucker muttered.

* * *

Edward sat with his back against a shelf, legs crossed. Kathryn lay on the floor with her head in his lap. A large pile of books sat next to them, what they had both read.

The clock in the room chimed five.

They both looked from their books at the clock.

"It's that late already?" Ed asked.

Kathryn got up from the floor and pulled him up. They both stretched their muscles and listened as the cracked.

"Where'd Al go?" Kathryn asked.

They looked around the library and found no sign of him.

Kathryn stepped to the side as Ed was tackled by Alexander again.

"KATHRYN!" he shouted.

She chuckled and turned to find Alphonse with Nina. "Oh, hey Brother."

"What do you mean, 'Hey Brother'!"

"Weren't you researching, Alphonse?" Kat asked.

"Yeah… but Nina wanted to play."

The dog began to whine and lick Ed's face.

"Ed… The dog says he wants to play," Kathryn chuckled.

"I think he would have more fun playing with someone closer to him, don't you think?" Ed replied.

Kathryn sighed. "Oi, Dog…" she whistled. Alexander looked up at her. "Woof," she fake barked. Alexander wined and hid behind Ed. "I don't think he likes me much…"

"Fine…" Ed sent the dog an evil glare. "They say that catching a rabbit takes every bit of a lion's strength. TRY TO SIT ON ME AGAIN DOG! I, EDWARD ELRIC WILL FIGHT YOU MY ENTIRE BODY AND SOUL!" Edward shouted as he ran after Alexander.

"How immature," Al whispered.

* * *

Havoc stood at the door.

"I'm here to pick you guys up. Can I ask what you are doing?"

Ed was on the floor again with the dog on his back and Kat sitting on his legs laying on the dog.

"It's called a dog pile," Kat replied knowingly.

"We were taking a break from research," Ed replied, laughing at Kat's joke.

"Did you find anything useful?" Tucker asked. Kat and Ed grimaced. "You can come back tomorrow!" Tucker soothed.

Al joined them after telling Nina they'd be back. They started out the door when Havoc stopped. "Message from the Colonel. 'Don't forget assessment day is coming up'."

"I remember. Have a nice day," he said shutting the door.

The next couple of days they came back and researched, taking breaks to play with Nina and her dog. Most of those days ended up with no results and Ed being crushed under the weight of two 'dogs'.

On the third day, clouds rolled in as they walked up the steps.

Ed looked over at Kathryn.

"I've gotten better. The thunder isn't as bad as it used to be. Don't worry so much about me," she said with a smile.

They went into the house which was darker than usual.

"Mr. Tucker? We're back again today…" Alphonse called out into the house.

They walked through the house, the occasional lamp lit a table. "Hello?" Kat called through the hallways.

"Maybe they're not home today," Ed muttered.

"Mr. Tucker? Are you here?"

"Nina?"

They walked down to the lab. Kathryn opened the door with reluctance.

"Mr. Tucker, we've been looking for you," Ed said.

"You're here. Look, it's my newest creation," he said stepping to the side. "A chimera that can talk like a human. Watch," he said as he turned to the creature. "This is your friend Kathryn. Understand?" he said pointing to Kat.

"Ka… thryn?" it said with a tilt of its head.

"Yes, very good," Tucker said.

Kathryn went over to the chimera and patted its head. _This smell… It's familiar. Where have I smelt it? _She thought smelling the chimera involuntarily.

"And this is Edward," Tucker pointed at Ed.

"Ed… ward?"

"Very good."

"Veh… ree… good?"

"I can't believe it actually talks," Ed sat coming over to pet it with Kat.

"I'm glad I made it in time for the assessment. This just saved my neck, and now I won't have to worry about research costs for a while."

The chimera continued to repeat their names, getting better with each one.

"Edward. Kathryn. Edward. Kathryn. Big brother?" it asked.

Kathryn and Edward stiffened, their eyes widening. Kathryn now realized, not which _one_, but which _ones_ she smelt.

They spared a glance before returning to the chimera.

"Mr. Tucker, when did you get your license. With the first talking chimera?" Ed asked.

"Like I told you already, Ed, two years ago," he replied.

"And when did your life leave you?" Kathryn asked.

"That was two years ago too," he replied with reluctance.

Kathryn and Ed looked at him over their shoulders. "What happened to Nina and Alexander?" they asked with rage.

Tucker sighed and looked at them with disdain. "I really hate perceptive brats like you."

Ed grabbed him by his collar and slammed him up against the wall.

"Brother!" Alphonse yelled.

"So that's how it happened…"

"First it was your wife, then it was your daughter and her dog!" Kathryn shouted in anger.

Alphonse looked over at the chimera that was now named as Nina and Alexander.

"Isn't that right? You can only do so much with animals. Humans are so much better, am I right?" Ed shouted.

"I don't understand why you are so upset. The progress of everything is based off of human experimentation. Someone has to do it, and you of all people-

"Just shut up!" Ed cut him off. "Do you think you're going to get away with this? Toying with people's lives?"

"Toying with lives? Yes, people's lives? You're the Fullmetal Alchemist! Do you mean like your brother's life? And what about your arm? And poor Kathryn, had you not toyed with people's lives, she probably would never had gotten dragged into this. Had she never left her home, she would still have an arm, and a pretty face instead of a mangled body. In retrospect, she would still be whole if you didn't mess with people's lives," Tucker taunted.

Ed lost it and threw a punch to the man's face.

"You and I are just the same."

"That's not true!"

"You're no different than I! You did it because you thought that you were the only person who could pull it off."

"That's not true!"

"The reason you did it was _because_ it was forbidden, no other reasons."

"No! We alchemists, we would never, we'd never, I'd never!" Ed yelled as he punched him over and over.

He reared back to hit him again, Kat's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. "As much as I'd like to see it, you'll kill him if you do this anymore. I don't want you to become like me…" Kathryn told him.

Ed hung his head in defeat and let Tucker slump to the ground.

"Pretty words won't get anything done."

Kathryn turned around and grabbed the chain of her necklace. Alphonse grabbed her before she could change. "Mr. Tucker, if you say another word, I will be the one to snap," Alphonse said threateningly. He walked over to Nina and patted her head. "Nina, we don't have the skills to put you back to normal. I'm sorry."

"Wanna play. Wanna play," she repeated over and over.

* * *

"They need to move forward , even if it means forcing themselves to understand," Mustang told Riza ad they walked down the steps of headquarters. "Isn't that right?"

They sat and let the rain pour on them.

"How long do you plan on staying depressed?"

"Shut up," Ed bit back.

"Even though people call you a 'dog of the military' and a 'devil,' it was you who chose to keep studying alchemy. You chose to join the military, when you could have lived the rest of your life as best as you could with the body you have. Can you afford to be held back by something so small?"

"Something so small?" Ed muttered.

"You're right," Kat said.

"People may call us dogs or devils, but we will get our original bodies back. But we're not devils or gods. We're humans. We can't even save one little girl. We're just pathetic human beings."

Kathryn looked at the sky, letting the rain drops fall against her face.

"Go home and rest. You'll catch a cold," Mustang said as he walked away.

"_Mom! Mom!" Edward ran through his mother's garden looking for her. All of the plants were taller than the child, making it difficult. "Mom! There you are! Look at this!" he said. He carried a small toy horse and a smile on his chubby cheeks._

"_What is it, Edward?" asked the woman. She had long brown hair that was in a loose side pony, a purple dress, and an apron that she was using to hold the vegetables she collected._

"_It's a present!" Edward said as he held out the toy horse to his mother._

"_For me? Where did you get it?" she asked as she took the toy from him._

"_I transmuted it with alchemy!" Ed said proudly._

"_You did?! Well, you are his son. Thank you Edward, you really are special, being able to create something so wonderful like this," she said as she patted the boy's head. He smiled and laughed. "But it's too bad… you couldn't put me back together too."_

_She began to deteriorate, blood dripping from her mouth as she spoke. Blood poured from her eyes, her ears, her skin began to rot. Edwards smile fell as he watched with horror. His mother dropped everything she held and fell forward with a sticky thud._

Edward woke with a start. He sat up in his bed, huffing and sweating. His auto-mail creaked with his every breath.

"Edward?" Kathryn asked softly.

He looked over to her, she lay on her elbow holding the sheet to her body. She sat up and draped her arms over his shoulders. She pulled him close and kissed his neck gently. "What was it about?" she asked, knowing full well it was a nightmare.

Ed was still breathing heavy. He looked at Kat, her eyes telling him he could tell her. But he shook his head. He clenched his teeth and pulled his leg to his chest, resting his head on his knee. "It hurts," was all he said.

She nodded her head, acknowledging the fact that it was something he wanted to keep to himself. She just pulled him closer and held him, telling him soothing words and stroking his arm, trying to help him like he always helps her.

* * *

They stood in front of Mustang's office the next morning. They waited for Ed to make a move, trying to decide whether to go in or turn around and go home.

As Ed spun on his heel to walk away when someone came out of the office.

"Edward, Kathryn, Alphonse," Hawkeye acknowledged them. "What are you doing here so early?"

Truthfully, Ed couldn't fall back asleep and Kat didn't want to leave him alone. "We were wondering, what's going to happen to Tucker and Nina?" Kat asked.

She turned her gaze away from them. "Tucker was going to have his license removed, then shipped to Central to be put on trial, but they both died last night," she told them. "To be truthful, they were killed. You would have found out sooner or later, so I might as well tell you now."

"What? By who?" Ed asked.

"How could anyone have gotten in? There are always guards stationed in front of holding houses! I should know, I was there once," Kathryn questioned.

"I don't know the answers to those, I'm on my way to location right now."

"Let us come with!" Ed exclaimed.

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's better that you don't see," she said ominously. Then she left.

* * *

"Colonel Mustang, we came here to get Tucker _alive_. Are you telling us to put this corpse on trial?" Hughes asked from his position on the floor next to the body. "We didn't come out here all the way from Central to do an autopsy."

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, you don't need to remind us of our mistake. Just take a look," Mustang replied to his friends comments with rubbing his temple.

_I'm not here even a week yet there's already someone dead…_

Hughes picked up the blanket covering the body and checked under it. "Just as I thought… The guards outside were found the same way?" he questioned.

"That's right. They were in pieces, or getting that way. Like someone blew them apart from the inside."

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Hughes asked Major Armstrong.

"There's no doubting it. It's _him_.

We call him Scar, seeing as no one knows who he is or what his intentions are. The only thing we know about him is a large X-shaped scar on his forehead," the Major explained.

"He's killed a total of ten alchemists in the past year, and between us… I heard he killed Old Man Grand," Hughes said as he fixed his glasses.

"Not the Iron-Blooded Alchemist! He's a martial arts expert!" Mustang exclaimed.

"He's tough, and roaming your streets. As advice from a friend, double your security and lay low for a while. You and Tucker are the only well know out here, right?"

Mustang stiffened. "Oh no…" he growled. "You!" he shouted at an officer. "Confirm whether the Elric brothers and Rockbell are at their lodgings," he commanded.

"Roy, what's going on?"

"Colonel, I spoke with them as I was leaving H.Q. They were walking down the main street area last I saw them," Hawkeye informed him.

"Dammit," Mustang cursed. "Bring the car around. All spare hands report to the main street area!" he shouted running out the door.

_I told her I would protect her. How can I do that with this guy loose?_

* * *

**I know what you all are thinking... WHAT THE FUCK IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSTANG AND KATHRYN! IDONTGIVEAFLYINGFUCK! WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING WITH YOUR SICK TWISTED WAYS!**

**All in good time my lovelies... All in good time... *says with cackle while fading to black* muahahahahahahah.**


	17. Chapter 17

**IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY AND THAT'S WHY I'M POSTING AGAIN! YAYAYAYYAYAAY!**

**I turned 15 yesterday (FINALLY) and I was gonna post this in my honor... that obviously didn't go as planned...**

**So I'm posting now and I hope you enjoy. Keep up the reviews! I love em!**

* * *

They sat at the base of the large clock in the middle of East Central. The rain poured down on them, ricocheting off of Al's armor and onto Kat who sat between the two. She didn't mind. She was more focused on Ed, who was still sulking.

"Brother?" Alphonse asked quietly.

"Hmm?" Ed snapped out of his fog. "Oh, sorry guys. I've been a little distracted. Since last night I've been wondering, what really is alchemy?"

"Alchemy is the reconstruction of matter in new forms based on the knowledge of natural laws," Alphonse stated.

"This world flows by obeying these laws. Death, too, is a part of that flow," Kathryn continued.

"Accept the flow of the world. Our teacher really beat that into us," Ed finished.

"And you nearly beat it into me," Kathryn said with a smile.

Ed went into his own little world again. "I thought the rain would wash away all of my doubt… But I now realize that it's just bugging me."

"I don't even have a body that can feel this rain. I want my body back, to be human again. Even if it means going against the flow of the world," Alphonse told his brother.

"We all want our bodies back. That definitely means going against the flow. But it will be well worth it in the end," Kathryn said as she grabbed Ed's hand with her metal one, concealed by her glove. He looked at her smile. "I promise."

"Edward! Mr. Edward Elric!" a man in uniform shouted running their way. "I'm so glad you're safe. You too, Ms. Rockbell. We've been looking for you."

"Do you need something?" Ed asked.

"You all need to get back to H.Q immediately. There's a killer on the loose in this area."

They watched as a man with white hair and dark skin approach them. "Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist…" the man said.

The officer turned around. "That scar!" he shouted as he pulled out his gun.

Scar rammed his hand into the man's face, blue sparks flying around them, and let him fall to the ground. Blown apart. Dead.

Kathryn growled as Ed stood still.

_I want to run… but I can't move. I'm going to die._

The gong of the clock brought him out of it.

Kathryn was still growling. "Quit growling and run!" Ed shouted as he grabbed her hand and pushed Al forward.

"The alley!" Kathryn told them.

"But he'll see us," Ed said as she clapped.

She palmed the ground and they watched as a wall filled up the entrance.

Cracks formed in the middle and she backed away with Ed and Al. The wall exploded to Scar. He stepped through the wall and they turned around and began to run.

Scar put his hand against the wall and the alley in front of them exploded. Shards of rubble hit Al and Kat, blocking Ed from it.

"You're kidding me!" Kat yelled as Scar walked toward them.

"Who the hell are you, and why are you after us?" Ed shouted.

Scar said nothing, just continued walking.

"I guess we have no choice," Kathryn said. She and Ed clapped their hands, Scar still focused on Ed.

Kathryn pulled her sword out of the ground, Edward grabbed a pipe and turned it into a reverse dagger, Alphonse took a fighting stance.

"You're not afraid…" Scar started. Kathryn took the first swing, missing and running past him. Ed went for a head shot, but Scar ducked. "But you're too slow," he said as he hit Al with his right hand.

Al's armor gained a large hole in the side and he lost a leg as well.

"Alphonse!" Kathryn shouted.

"You son of a bitch!" Ed said as he rushed Scar again. He missed and Scar grabbed his arm. Ed went flying and Scar turned to Kat who was now headed for him. He dodged her first attack, which was meant to miss because she quickly swept her blade the other way. He grabbed her arm as well and watched as she went flying into Ed.

They both stood without a weapon and took off their coats and gloves.

"Auto-mail… No wonder…" Scar said. "And I was planning on striping him of his armor before killing him, but there is nothing there. You three are strange…"

They both went for a punch with their auto-mail, hoping it would hurt a lot more.

"This has taken longer than expected," he said, catching both their arms in his grasp. "Let me slow you down so I can finish and be on my way."

Their arms exploded and they went flying in different directions.

Kathryn landed on a rock, her leg wound from Barry re-opening.

Ed landed, not two feet away from Scar.

"I'll give you a moment to pray," Scar said as he moved to stand in front of Ed.

"Edward!" Kathryn yelled as she tried to stand. Her leg gave out from under her before she could take a step.

"Kathryn, stay away!" Ed looked up at Scar. "If you kill me, will you leave them alone?"

"Kathryn, you said? As in Rockbell?" he said glancing at the girl who was trying to stand again.

"That's me," she said gripping her leg. She took another step and slipped in the rain. She fell to her knees and then her elbow.

"I'm going to kill her after you, but I can leave the armor alone as long as he doesn't try to stop me," Scar replied.

"No! You'll let her go!" Ed shouted.

"There's no negotiation about this,"

"Ed! Just run! Get out of here!" Kathryn shouted.

"Brother, Kathryn, run!"

Scar moved his hand towards Ed when a gun went off.

"That's enough," Mustang called out. Havoc and Hawkeye got out of the car behind him. His gun was to the air and emitting smoke.

"MUSTANG YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" Kathryn screamed. "Why is that gun pointed up! You could have shot Scar instead!"

"Well, I-

"Mustang… The Flame Alchemist…"

"The one and only…"

Kathryn looked around. _Havoc is the only one here that doesn't know about me. He's part of our command. Mustang can explain to him later._

Kathryn stood up and yanked her necklace off, tossing it at Ed while Scar was distracted. The change was instant and she jumped on Scar's back.

He shouted as Kat took a bite at his shoulder. He flipped her over and she let out a yelp.

"What is this?" Scar asked.

Kathryn growled at him and lunged.

"Kat!" Ed shouted.

"Kat?" Scar questioned. Kathryn jumped on his back and clawed at his head.

_God dammit Mustang, why aren't you shooting? Take the fucking shot! _

Scar tossed her off and she jumped back on.  
_Take the damn shot!_

Scar got a firm hold on her scruff and flipped her over his back. He used his alchemy on her front left leg and she flew at Ed. He quickly clasped on her necklace before anyone else had a chance to show up.

Scar watched as she changed. "Now I really must kill you. A changeable chimera… and a state alchemist," Scar said. He brought his arm back to strike, Kathryn turned into Ed's arms. A bullet soared past Scar's head.

"I won't say it again,"

"If you insist on stopping me, I'll have to eliminate you too."

"Oh, you will, eh?" Mustang asked. He tossed Hawkeye his gun and pulled on his glove.

"This is a glorious day, three alchemists in one spot."

"You know I'm the flame alchemist, yet you still want to fight me? You're a fool!" Mustang said.

"Ed we should move," Kat said as she grimaced at Mustang.

They moved behind Riza next to the car.

Scar ran towards Mustang. "Colonel!" Hawkeye shouted. She tripped him just in time for Scar's hand to graze his hair.

She took open fire at Scar, not one bullet hitting him.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" Mustang shouted from his place next to Kathryn and Ed.

"Colonel, it's raining. You're wet. I did this for my alchemy exam. Do the math and please stay back. You're completely useless at the moment," Kathryn said with a pat on the back.

"Anyone who tries to stop me, I will destroy them!" Scar shouted.

Major Armstrong came out of nowhere with a punch. Scar dodged and the Major praised him. "You dodged that, not half bad. But I've had enough of you. You want to destroy everyone here? Don't make me laugh. You'll have to beat me first. The Strong Arm Alchemist, Alex Louis Armstrong!"

"Four in one day. This must be a gift from god!"

Armstrong sent different alchemic attacks Scar, each one missing and causing more damage to the street.

"MAJOR! Don't tear up the street!" Havoc shouted.

"What's that you say? What destroys can also create! And what creates can also destroy! We must tear down in order to build! THAT IS THE GREAT LAW OF THE COSMOS!" he replied tearing off his shirt.

"A fellow alchemist knows the truth in what I say, isn't that right Scar?"

Then Riza fired.

"Did you get him?" Mustang asked. More people had arrived by now.

"He's fast."

Scar turned to glare at them, a trickle of blood going down his forehead and his glasses shattered on the ground.

"Red eyes! And dark skin…"

"He's an Ishbalan!" Mustang shouted.

Scar looked around. "Maybe there are too many of you…" and he hit the ground, creating a large hole in the middle of the street.

Everyone began to rush to cover the scene.

"Alphonse!" Ed shouted worriedly. Helping Kathryn over, they collapsed by his side.

"Alphonse, are you alright?" Kathryn asked, tentatively touching around the hole in his side.

"Edward… YOU IDIOT!" he shouted, punching his older brother in the face. "And you!" he said turning to Kathryn. He punched her too, not caring if she was a girl. "I told you to run! You both had a chance, why didn't you take it!"

"We can't just leave you…" Ed replied.

"That's what I mean by stupid!" he said punching him again.

"Alphonse! He could have killed you if we left you here," she shouted at him.

"And I might not have!" he said giving her another punch. "When you have a chance to survive and you don't take it, that's what idiots do!"

"Don't talk to us like that!" they shouted at him.

He grabbed them by their shirts. "I'll talk to you however I want! You have to live so you can find a way to bring back our bodies, and maybe even save poor girls like Nina!" he shouted. "I'm not going to let you two throw that chance away, otherwise I'd never forgive you!" he said as his arm snapped off. "Look at me! I'm falling apart! ARRGG!" he shouted.

Kathryn chuckled. "We're a real mess, aren't we?"

"How uncool," Edward replied.

"But we're alive," Alphonse soothed.

They smiled. "Alive… yeah. We're alive."

Riza and Havoc gave them their military jackets to cover from the rain. "Hey, we need some help over here!" Havoc shouted. "Hey kid, when you gonna explain that thing to me, or was I delusional?"

"It was real. I'll tell you…" she thought for a moment. "When you quit smoking," she replied with a smile.

"Wha? NO FAIR!"

* * *

They all sat in Mustang's office. Breda, Falman, Havoc, and Fury sat it their desks. Mustang sat at his desk, Hawkeye sat on the corner. Hughes pulled a chair at the front and Armstrong leaned against a desk opposite him.

Alphonse sat on the floor, his body wrapped up with a cloth. Edward and Kathryn sat side by side on one of the desks toward the back with some coffee in their hands.

They sat in silence, not sure of what to do or say. Kathryn needed to speak, though.

"Okay, well I've got something to say," she said standing up and setting her coffee on the desk.

Everyone turned their attention to her.

She took a calming breath and looked at everyone before continuing. "A few of you already know what I'm about to show you. I figure you are the only ones I can really trust, members of the unit, close friends, and loyal members of the military," she said, referring to those she worked with under Mustang, Hughes, and Major Armstrong. "So pay close attention and try not to scream," she said as she broke the chain on her necklace. "Catch," she said as she tossed it at Mustang.

She lunged forward so the others could see her changing process, even though it happened in the blink of an eye. She jumped up onto Mustang's desk and nudged his arm that was raised to catch her necklace. She turned around to everyone else, looking at their reactions.

Fury was close to falling out of his chair. Havoc was trying to stop his pants from catching fire, his cigarette fallen out of his mouth. Breda's mouth was on the floor and Falman's eyes were wide open. Ed just conversed with Alphonse about something she didn't want to intrude on.

She nudged Mustang's arm continuously until he pushed her off him. "I get it, you can stop that already," he muttered putting her necklace back on.

She appeared crossing her legs and sitting on the edge of Mustang's desk. "Any questions?" she asked those in front of her.

"How did you do that?" Fury asked. He was the last one she expected to speak. She figured he'd be the one screaming.

"We've figured that the used Philosopher's Stones Ed put in my necklace is what contains my wolf form. Once the necklace leaves my touch, I go wolf," she replied.

"How can you go wolf? You were never a test subject were you?" Falman asked.

"Technically, I could be considered a test subject. I was scratched by a chimera, and now I am technically one too."

"What chimeras? I didn't think there were any running loose in the city," Breda asked.

"It was those ones that attacked us, weren't they?" Hughes wondered.

"Yup. Three days before my alchemy exam, we were attacked while Hughes was over for a visit. I felt it was unsafe anyone go anywhere so we all stayed the night. Full wolf chimeras came in through the window looking for me, no one else. The rumors about the secret weapon wolves are true.

They attacked, giving me these," she said nodding at her arm and lifting her hair. "The large one in the middle is the one we figured gave me wolf-Kat. And I think that's everything we know…" she said. She looked over her shoulder at Mustang, seeing if she had covered everything.

"You missed your threat," he said.

"Oh yes. And if any of the things I have said leave this room, I will rip open you stomachs and eat your innards," she said with a smile. "Anything else?"

They all shook their heads, Fury looking green. She hopped off the desk and walked past them, giving him a pat on the head to reassure him she was still the nice Kat he knew.

Hughes cleared his throat to break the silence that followed Kathryn as she took her place next to Ed. "So what are you planning on doing next?" he asked.

"We need to fix Al, but I can't do that with one arm…" Ed thought out loud.

"Shall I fix him for you?" Major Armstrong asked, ripping off his shirt again and flexing.

"No," Alphonse said.

"Ed's the only one who knows how to keep Al in his armor. If you did it, I'm sure he'd kill you because you lost Al, the transmute himself and come back with another missing arm," Kathryn said.

"But first I need a new arm," Ed continued ignoring Kat's last sentence.

"That's right. If Ed and Kat can't use alchemy, that means they're…"

"A brat who swears a lot."

"An arrogant pipsqueak."

"Reliant on Kat because she's the only one who can still do something useful."

"Still scary as hell."

They commented first on Ed trying not to piss off Kathryn.

"As much as I appreciate the compliments, I don't want you walking on glass around me. Just treat me like you used to, even if I am at least one rank above all of you," Kathryn told them.

"Useless," they all said.

"Well then we have no choice…" Ed said.

"We have to go home…" Kathryn muttered.

"We're going to die," they said together.

They helped each other into their coats and looked over at the Major who was now sniffling.

"OH EDWARD ELRIC! AND YOU KATHRYN ROCKBELL! I'VE HEARD MUCH ABOUT YOU!" he boomed, bringing them into a bone crushing hug. "The pure love that lead you to try bringing your dead mother back to life. And the brotherly love that caused you to bring back your brother's soul! The pure devotion you have to these boys that you still stay with them despite personal trauma! And you betrayed your own beliefs to help them! I AM MOVED!" he cried.

He went in for another hug when Kathryn gripped her necklace. "I don't need a good reason to rip out your heart and eat it," she threatened, stopping him in his tracks.

"So, Colonel, who told him about us?" Ed asked him.

"Well… when the Major is the one leaning on you, it's very hard, not to mention life threatening, not to tell him what he wants."

"Knowing the details of your pain filled past, that is why I have decided to escort you on your trip back to your engineer," Armstrong said as he whipped out his hankie and dabbed at his eyes.

"We don't need a bodyguard!" Ed shouted.

"With the way you are, you still couldn't carry Al around, even if there are two of you," Havoc told him.

"Plus Scar could attack you at any moment and Kat might not be able to change depending on where you are. Alchemists are more common among the people than chimeras," Riza explained.

"Ed, I think they're right. I won't be changing in public unless you are two steps away from death," Kathryn told him truthfully. "I'd kick my ass later, but I won't risk getting shipped off to a lab so soon."

"But it doesn't have to be the Major…" he whined.

"I've got a ton of work waiting back at Central," Hughes said lying through his teeth.

"I can't leave headquarters," Colonel said truthfully.

"I have to babysit the Colonel."

"I don't think I could protect you from someone that dangerous," Havoc said waving his hands.

"Our thoughts exactly!" the rest shouted.

"It's decided then!" the Major shouted triumphantly.

"NOTHING'S DECIDED!" Ed shouted.

"Ed, knock it off."

"Listen to your elders, and your girlfriend."

"DON'T TREAT ME LIKE A KID! Al you gonna take this?"

"Oh Ed! This is the first time anyone has treated me like a kid since my body became armor!"

"If you plan on making a fuss, I could have you court martialed for disobeying orders," Mustang said deviously.

"You dirty-

"Now it's definitely be decided. Let's pack."

"Ed, give it up. Or else you don't get anything when you can hold yourself, or me, up," Kathryn said with a wink.

Everyone who caught onto her pretended to throw up.

"I can still hold you up. Besides, I think the wall helps out with that…" Ed flirted back, causing Kat to giggle uncontrollably.

"Where's a sink, or a toilet? This trash can will work!" Mustang shouted enthusiastically. Everyone ran over to the desk and fought over who needed the can first.

* * *

_Why did it have to be him though? Those cheap, lousy, lying-_

Kat's thoughts were cut short but a tapping on their window.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, what are you doing here?" Ed asked.

"I thought I would come see you off since everyone else said they were too busy. I also have a message from Roy."

"Mustang?"

"Yup. He said, 'I won't allow you to die in my jurisdiction because it'd be a pain in the ass to clean up the mess.' I think he wanted to add an, 'and if Kat managed to survive, she would rip out my liver and make me eat it while she slowly tore me limb from limb', in there somewhere, but decided against it."

Kathryn smirked. "Tell him, 'Understood. We'd never allow ourselves to die before you, you fucking Jackass'. Make sure he knows it's what I said."

Hughes laughed. "They say the ruder you are, the luckier you are. You two and Roy are going to live forever!" he said jokingly. The train whistle blew and Hughes stepped back from the train. "Safe trip, then. Don't get in too much trouble," he said as he saluted them.

They saluted back, Ed apologizing for the left handed salute.

"Let me know if you're ever in central."

"You'll be the first we call," Kat said with a smile as the train pulled out of the station.

About five miles out Armstrong struck a conversation. "So, this person is an auto-mail mechanic? I've never met anyone with that profession."

"To be more on track, she's a surgeon, a weapon smith specializing in prostheses, and an auto-mail expert. And although I may yell at her, she'll give me a discount because we've know each other our whole lives. She does good work too," Kathryn said with a smile and a glance out the window at the passing mountain range.

"What kind of place is Resembool?"

"It's a quiet little town. Wide open spaces and nothing for miles," Ed told him.

"Everything got destroyed by the civil war, though. It might be a real city if the military had been more on top of things and didn't let the war spread out to its people," Kathryn said with bite. Ed grabbed her hand and rubbed her knuckles to calm her down.

"You're making my ears hurt," Armstrong said from his seat. He inwardly smiled at the two, how much they loved each other even though they were so young.

"Good, shall I say more?" Kathryn mocked. "But really, it's a nice place. Out in the middle of nowhere, but it has a lot of the things you can't get in the city. It's our home. All four of us grew up there."

"Speaking of, you did put Al on the train, didn't you?"

"I put him in the livestock car."

"LIVESTOCK?! That's worse than luggage!" Kathryn shouted.

"I thought he might get lonely be himself…"

"QUIT MESSING WITH MY BROTHER!"


	18. Chapter 18

**WHY MUST THESE FUCKERS BE SO SMALL! I TRY TO WRITE A CHAPTER AND IT ENDS UP TO SHORT SO I MUST COMBINE IT WITH ANOTHER AND IT IS TOO LONG! ARGGGG!**

**I hate you all right now. I really should be doing my English assignment right now but I'm blowing it off and posting this chapter right now. I hope you are happy...**

**Anywhoo! Nice LONG chapter ahead. Get your tissues and prepare for the feels cause they be coming round the mountain at high-speed and driven by Kathryn no doubt. ;)**

**I'm gonna let you know, that this is probably my favorite chapter so far. I loved writing this one. I HOPE YOU GET FEELS FROM MY AMAZING WRITING!**

**So off you go. Read my taking for-fucking-ever fanfiction!**

* * *

The train had stopped at a small town. Kathryn had fallen asleep on Ed's shoulder, Ed's head resting on hers. He snored slightly and squeezed her hand in his sleep.

Armstrong watched the small interaction with a smile. He glanced out the window to see a middle-aged man with graying hair walking by. At first he gave it not thought but once he did a double take, he was sure he knew him.

He jumped to the window, startling Kathryn and Edward awake, and opened the window.

"Dr. Marcoh!" he called out.

The man stopped walking. He turned around to the train. "Aren't you Dr. Marcoh? It's me! Alex Louis Armstrong from Central!"

The man's eyes widened and he dashed off the platform.

"You know him?" Kathryn asked as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"Yes. He was a skilled alchemist who studied medical alchemy in the research department, but he disappeared during the civil war."

Kat and Ed shared a look. "Let's get off," they said standing from their seats.

"I thought you needed to go to Resembool?"

"We do, but if that's what he was studying, he might know a thing or two about biological alchemy," Kathryn explained.

"We need Al and the baggage," Ed said.

"Excuse me!" Kathryn called to a conductor. "We're getting off here."

He opened the luggage car and the livestock car. Armstrong brought Al out who now smelt like a sheep.

They headed into town and asked around about Dr. Marcoh.

Apparently, he lived as Dr. Mauro, a doctor who healed people for free. His patients explained that they experienced a flash of red light and they were healed, even if they had cut off their limbs or were so sick they were an inch from death.

"So he's been using an alias and hiding out in the country," Armstrong said.

"But why's he been hiding?" Ed asked.

"Because when he disappeared, some top-secret research went missing as well. They thought he stole it and ran. Perhaps he thought we were here to bring him back."

Ed knocked on the door that someone had pointed them to. "Hello? Anyone there-

"GET BACK!" Kathryn shouted as she pulled him away from the door. A gun fired and the bullet went soaring past where Ed just stood.

"How'd you-

"I heard him load the gun," she explained.

"Please calm down Doctor," Armstrong said.

"You came here to take me back, didn't you! I'll never go back. Please, just let me go," Marcoh pleaded.  
"Please, Dr. Marcoh. If you'll just listen-

"So you're here to kill me huh? Shut me up for good?"

"No, just lower the gun-

"You can't fool me!"

"I SAID PLEASE CALM DOWN!" Armstrong shouted as he threw Al at him.

"AL!" Ed and Kat shouted.

"I couldn't stand it anymore," Marcoh said. He had calmed down and let them in. They sat at his table and listen while he told the story. "Having to obey and do that research, then watch as it was used to destroy thousands of innocent people. It was an awful war. I could never make up for what I did if I worked my entire life. That's why I work as a doctor here."

"Doctor, what did you research? What was it that you stole when you left?" Armstrong asked.

Marcoh clasped his hands together and rested them against his head. "I was making the Philosopher's Stone. I took the data from the research and the stone."

"You have the stone?" Kathryn asked,

"Yeah," he said as he pulled out a vial with a red liquid in it. "This is it."

"It looks more like water than stone…"

He poured the liquid onto the table and watched as it formed a wobbly oval.

"It's an imperfect compound, and was created for experimental purposes."

"But that means that there is a possibility of a fully functioning stone right?"

"Please, you have to show us that data!" Ed shouted excitedly.

"What? What do you want to do with such a thing? Major Armstrong, who are these kids?"

"They are state alchemists," he replied plainly.

"These children? At this age, you must have been lured by the promises of privilege and money. Do you know how many alchemists threw away their certifications after the war? Yet you still…"

"We know it was stupid, but we had to," Kathryn said with a scowl. Her gaze was frightening, even if there was only half a face to look at.

"We have to achieve our goal, even if it means sleeping on a bed of nails," Ed said.

Ed explained his story. Kathryn said nothing, not wanting to change again.

"So… you committed the ultimate taboo. I surprised you were able to transmute a soul. Maybe you would be able to make a complete Philosopher's Stone…"

"So you'll help?" Ed asked.

"No. Getting your body back with the stone… it shouldn't be used for something so trite."

"TRITE?" Kathryn growled. "You call that trite! Well then I wonder what you would call my situation…" she couldn't stop herself. She covered her mouth with her hands. Shaking her head she stood from her chair and knocked it over. "Forget I said anything."

"No one will see my research. It's the work of the devil, and can only lead straight to hell."

"I'VE ALREADY SEEN HELL!" Ed shouted.

Kathryn stopped at the door as she heard this. She growled and kicked the door, knocking it off its hinges and jumped off the wall. She walked away to the train station.

They sat at the station waiting for the next train to come in. Kathryn still hadn't said anything.

"Are you satisfied with how that went?" Armstrong asked. When they sent him a questioning look he continued. "You could have taken the stone by force if you couldn't look at the data."

"I could have, but then I thought about the people we met on the way there. He used that stone to heal them, and if I stole it and used it on myself, it wouldn't feel right," Ed replied.

"He's right. I don't think I could do it. I'd chop off my arm and think of a different way," Kathryn finally said. "Right Al?"

"Yeah, but without the chopping part."

"What about you Major? Don't you have to report him to Central?"

"The person I met today was an ordinary town doctor named Mauro," he replied.

They smiled. Kathryn sighed. "Back to square one. Again."

"Hey you!"

"Marcoh?"

"This is where I hid my data. If you can look the truth in the face, then do it," he said handing Ed an envelope. "Then you might be able to reach the truth within the truth. Now I've said too much. I'll pray for the day you can get your bodies back," he called as he walked away.

The train pulled up and they boarded.

"The National Central Library, first branch. Tim Marcoh," Ed read.

"If you want to hide a tree…" Armstrong said.

"Plant it in a forest," Kathryn finished.

"Their book collection is beyond compare."

"And that's where we'll find our first clue about the Philosopher's Stone," Ed said with a smile.

They were on their way.

* * *

Pinako Rockbell finished with the wooden leg of her latest client. "All set," she told him.

"Thanks Pinako, feels great."

"Have you ever thought of switching to auto-mail?" she asked.

"Are you kidding? Sure, it might be better, but I've heard that the surgery is extremely painful and the rehabilitation is hard and takes a long time," he replied shrugging on his coat.

"You're pretty wimpy for a man your age. My granddaughter got an auto-mail arm and her boyfriend has an arm and leg. They did it in one year and they barely made a peep through the whole thing," Pinako bragged.

"Kathryn did that? Well, I'm not that brave. I'll see you around Doc," he said as he walked out the door.

She followed him out the door and waved him off.

Den began to bark at the main road. She looked over and smiled. "Back already?" she laughed. Glancing up to the window she shouted, "Winry, come down here! Our best customers are here!"

Winry glanced up from her work and growled.

"Yo, Granny! We're back!" Ed shouted. "You gonna tell them about Wolfy?" Ed asked Kat.  
"Not yet. I want them to get used to me having a false arm first," she whispered back.

"Oh dear. If you're back this early then it can't be good," Granny said.

"What, your granddaughter can't come home for a visit?" Kathryn asked.

"Not if you got him to come with. So what did you do?"

"A lot has happened. Can you fix us up?" Ed asked.

Granny mumbled something that even Kat didn't hear. "Granny, this is Major Alex Louis Armstrong. He helped us get here in one piece," Kathryn introduced them.

"I'm Pinako Rockbell," she said as she shook the Major's hand. She stepped back and took her pipe out of her mouth. "Ed, I know I just saw you about a month ago… but did you get smaller?" she asked comparing him to Armstrong.

Ed growled. "You've got it wrong… You're supposed to say 'How big you've grown, Ed," he said in his best Granny voice.

"Now why would I lie, I'm not that kind of person."

"I'M STILL TALLER THAN YOU MINI HAG!" he shouted.

"Ed…" Kathryn said as she pushed him to the ground.

"WHAT WAS THAT-

He stopped when Kathryn grabbed the wrench out of the air and threw it back up to the porch without even looking. It whizzed past Winry's hair and lodged in the same place as last time. "Winry, you can throw as many wrenches as you like, I'll catch all of them and throw them back in the same spot," Kathryn said with a glare at her sister.

"And I thought I've told you two time and time again to call me before coming back," she replied yanking the wrench out of the wood.

"Well, I thought I would have an exception, sister dear," she mocked her twin.

"WINRY ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME? THE ONLY REASON I'M ALIVE LATELY IS BECAUSE OF YOUR SISTER!" Edward shouted.

Winry laughed from her place at her balcony. "Welcome back," she said with a smile.

Den was still barking, jumping around Kathryn. "What's gotten into that dog?" Granny asked.

"Maybe it has to do with-

"Major! Why don't I show you around!" Ed shouted over him.

"Den!" Kathryn shouted. He stopped and whined. She knelt down in front of him and pet his head. "It's me, silly," she said with a smile. Den came over and licked her face.

They went inside and Granny made some coffee. Kathryn and Edward dumped their auto-mail on a tray and sat down. Granny gave them their coffee.

Winry came running down the stairs and screamed at the sight of their arms.

"Sorry sis, they're a bit broken," Kathryn said taking a sip of her drink.

"A bit? Do you see what you two have done to my masterpiece in a month? I slaved over these."

"They're basically the same just in smaller pieces," Ed commented.

Winry took out her wrench and bashed it over his head. She went to hit Kathryn, but stopped when she raised an eyebrow from behind her mug. Winry turned around and hit Ed again.

"Don't tell me, you a little smashed up too?" she asked Alphonse.

She kicked the boy in the face. The two lay on the floor twitching. "What kind of trouble to you get yourselves into? All you do is worry me," Winry sighed.

Kathryn placed her mug on the side table and walked over to her twin. She pulled her into a hug. "Sorry, Win. I hate seeing you when worried,"

Winry sighed again and hugged Kat back. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Granny knocked the tobacco from her pipe. "I see, you need to get to Central as soon as possible to get that information."

"Yeah, this is kinda a rush order," Ed replied.

Granny sat at his feet examining his legs. He sat in his old blue tank and his boxers, blushing slightly at the fact Kathryn was sitting right next to him in her skimpy clothes, a red spaghetti strap and a small pair of black cotton boy-shorts, too.

"Your leg needs adjusting too. So," she said standing up. "We need two new arms and an adjusted leg."

"Guess your growth isn't stunted after all," Winry mocked.

"Why you- Shut up!" Ed growled.

"We have to build two arms from scratch… Hmmm,"

"Is there any chance you can have it done in a week-and-a-half?" Kathryn asked. Having lived there long enough, she knew how long it took to build auto-mail.

Granny smiled. "Don't underestimate your family kiddo, we'll have it done in about four days."

Winry grabbed a replacement leg and put it on Ed. "You're going to have to use this one for now."

Kat and Ed stood, Ed wobbling on his new leg. She steadied his and he smiled his thanks. "It's a bit difficult walking on a leg I'm not used to, but I think I can manage."

"We'll be finished before you even get a chance to get used to it," Granny replied.

"Four days, huh? With all the worked involved, that's four all-nighters, maybe even a fifth depending on how fast I work," Winry thought out loud.

"Sorry for the inconvenience Win," Kathryn said drinking some more coffee.

"Well you want to get to Central don't you? I work extra hard for you. But remember you'll be paying extra for the rush job," she said slamming her hand into Kat's back.

Kathryn spewed her coffee on Edward. "KATHRYN!" he shouted as he tried chasing her and falling over due to his leg. They laughed at him.

* * *

Alphonse sat propped up by a barrel next to the chicken coup with a bag of feed for them. Armstrong chopped the wood, rather, smashed the wood into pieces for them to use. Kathryn and Ed were nowhere to be seen.

"The wood you requested, Ms. Pinako," he said walking back into the house.

"Why thank you," she said from her desk.

"I'm afraid to ask, but where are Edward and Kathryn? I have not seen them for a while," he asked looking around.

"They went off to visit their parents graves."

"I told him not to go anywhere by himself…"

"Don't worry, they've got the best guard dog around," she replied unknowingly.

He stiffened. At first he thought she was talking about Kat, but remembered that she didn't know. Kathryn and Edward made him swear not to tell Winry or Granny.

"Major, what kind of lives are those three leading? The only letters we ever got were from Kathryn and they didn't say much about the boys. She gave us as much information as she could get on them, but it was never much," Granny asked sadly.

"Edward and Alphonse are well known for their alchemy, even in high places. Kathryn is known mostly for her management with a blade, one that I could barely lift. She is becoming known for her alchemy as well, traveling with those boys will do that. But that fame tends to get them in trouble, that or they end up finding it.

But that helps on occasion. Because of it, Kathryn and Edward were able to put away a serial killer. You don't need to worry, they are all right. They are strong."

"I think that already. I witness that when he got auto-mail twice, and she left to join the military for them, putting aside her beliefs of them being good for nothing. And then she got auto-mail and I saw it them too."

"You speak as if they were your own sons."

"I've been watching over them since they were born. Hell, I even delivered them. And their father is an old drinking buddy of mine. I don't even know if he's alive."

"I don't mean to pry, but where are Winry and Kathryn's parents?"

"They died in Ishbal. They were surgeons in the battle field, doing whatever they could to help."

"That was a terrible war."

"Yes… But the irony in it is that the war that took away my son and his wife, is the same war that allows us to earn money for out bread. Speaking of," she hopped down from her stool, "I need to start dinner. You look like you could eat a lot, but no worries. There is plenty to go around, I've always said that food tastes better with guests.

There's also an empty patients bed in the back and some spare bedding. You can sleep there tonight. They don't have anywhere to sleep but here, so one more person is no biggy."

"Nowhere else to go? But I thought Resembool is their home town, where is their house?"

"They burnt it down when Ed got his government license. That was the first time I had seen them in about three or four months, and Kathryn in about a year and a half. She left a few days after Ed had surgery for East Central to talk to Colonel Mustang about becoming a military officer. No one could stop her, she left in the middle of the night with a note on her pillow telling us not to come after her, not to worry, and not to tell Ed.

When he asked, we told him she was at camp. Boot camp, but a camp none the less. She must have caught wind of his success because she showed up a few days before the boys came back and burned their home to the ground. I was a bit scared. That sword you talked about, the one of hers you couldn't lift? It was strapped to her back and covered in blood. I hate to think about it, but knowing that she has been in situations like her parents makes me worry so much," she finished with a shake of her head. "Enough of this topic, it's depressing. How do you like stew?"

* * *

Night had fallen by the time Edward and Kathryn made it back, taking a stop at Ed's old house first.

"OH EDWARD ELRIC, AND KATHRYN ROCKBELL!" Armstrong shouted as they walked through the door, bringing them into yet another bone crushing hug.

"What unyielding love to try to bring your mother back to life! What a tremendous sacrifice to give up your arm and leg in order to transmute your brother's disembodied soul! What determination to burn down your own house to ensure, there was no return! What pure devotion to these boys that you would go against your own preaching's and family to help them! What pure agony it must have been to leave behind your loved ones and venture into an unknown world! And what hope you bring to us by the fact that you still stay and help even though it brings you great physical pain to do so!" he cried.

Winry and Granny looked at each other. 'Physical pain?'

"Great…" Kathryn muttered.

"COME! ALLOW ME TO OFFER YOU THIS COMFORTING EMBRACE!"

"NO! SIT DOWN!"

"DON'T RUB YOUR CHEST ON ME!"

"DOWN! GET OFF ME!"

"ARRRGGGG!" they screamed.

* * *

Four days later they were sitting outside on the grass.

"Edward, Winry can't do her work if someone is looking over her shoulder. She threw me out the window one time because I was watching her," Kathryn told the sulking boy who was thrown out of Winry's room.

"Honestly Ed, they said four to five days, so give them four to five days!" Alphonse scolded.

"Yes, but the thought of the clue to the stone sitting in Central library gets my impatient!" he whined kicking his arm and legs. Den mimicked him and Kathryn laughed.

She looked over at the back door and they watched as it opened and Winry ran out with two arms. "All ready!" she shouted with a smile.

They sat inside, Kathryn and Ed sitting on opposite ends of the couch because of their arms.

"Ready, Kat?" Winry asked.

She took in a deep breath. "Ready," she replied as she steeled herself.

Winry attached the arm to the base and Kat let out a doggish yelp. They all looked at Den, to her relief.

Kat sat in silence while Winry finished up. "All done, wiggle your fingers."

Kathryn closed her fist several times and smiled. Then she looked at Ed evilly. "Good luck," she cackled.

Winry brought his arm over and set it up while Granny did the same with his leg.

"One, two, three."

"GACK!" Edward choked. He let out a sigh when it was done. "That's the worse part every time is when the nerves have to connect. But once we get a Philosopher's Stone, we can kiss that pain goodbye!" he said happily.

"Our biggest source of income, I'll be said to see you go," Granny said connecting another nerve. He jolted again.

"Hold still, do you want me to do this right or not?" Winry scolded as she finished is arm.

They stood up and admired the work.

"All finished."

Ed stretched out his leg and they helped each other stretch their arms.

"Well?"

"They're great."

"Feels nice. Almost lighter."

"That's cause I increased the percentage of chrome so it shouldn't rust as much. But it's not as durable now so don't try anything crazy-

She was cut off by the door slamming open.

"Are you listening?"

"Al, your turn!" Ed shouted out the door.

"Yeah I heard ya, not as sturdy," Kathryn said whipping around to face them. "Don't think I can't hear you, I hear everything."

She ran off without another word, Winry not being able to say anything because of what she saw under her sister's hair.

Large scars that ran down the length of her face, neck and arm. She and Granny assumed that the ones on her arm were old battle wounds that they had never seen, but those weren't old.

_Kathryn never wore her hair like that, until now. What happened to her in this last month?_

She looked over at Granny who was close to tears. "My granddaughter… What happened to you?" she asked as she walked into the kitchen.

Armstrong walked out to see Ed and Kat arranging the pieces of Al's armor.

"You can fix him right here?" he wondered.

"Yup, but you have to know the magic trick," Kathryn said standing with Ed. "These are all the pieces right, Al?"

"Yeah. Some MPs helped me gather them," he replied.

"You see that seal on the inside of his armor?" Ed asked. "That's the anchoring point of Al's soul, it's what keeps him in the armor. I have to make sure I don't ruin it."

"It looks like it's written in blood…" he commented.

"That's because Ed used his blood, seeing as he didn't have anything else around, isn't that right?"

"Sure is. Boy, that was a close one…"

"Blood…"

"Yup, a bit further and I would have been a goner," Alphonse joked.

"Blood…"

They all chuckled.

Edward clapped his hands and repaired Alphonse's armor. "There, good as new!" Ed said with a smile.

Al ran around a bit while Ed braided his hair and Kat retied hers.

"So, we gonna start-

He was cut off by Kat's foot in his face. "That was a cheap shot!"

"You said start," she replied as she ducted from an oncoming attack from Al.

"No fair! You have super hearing now!"

"To make up for a missing eye," she said pointing to her hair. She back flipped from her spot, Ed and Al jumping away from each other forming a triangle.

_Who's going to attack first, _Kathryn thought glancing at their feet. Alphonse ran at her and she ran at Ed, jumping over him, grabbing his shoulders and throwing him into his little brother.

"What's this, a family quarrel?" Armstrong asked.

"No, me and Ed are making sure our auto-mail works right," she said deflecting a kick from Ed.

"And I need to get my senses back, I haven't moved in a while," Alphonse said as he looked for an opening between the two.

"Oh, well in that case, let me help you!" Armstrong shouted ripping off his shirt.

After a bit of fighting, Kathryn was getting tired. "Ask yourselves, who's the more threatening opponent?"

They stopped for a second, Ed and Al to think. "Still you," they both replied pointing at her.

"That backfired…" she growled. She looked around before running up to Ed who was the closest. She kneed him in the stomach, got him in the air and kicked him to the Major. She ran up to Alphonse, dodging a few attacks before kicking his head off and throwing it at Armstrong. She kicked Alphonse to the other side of the house and used Major's momentary blindness to trip him.

She stood in the middle of the three, poised to attack if anyone got up.

"We give up… You win," Edward said.

"I'm the master!" Kathryn shouted with a fist pump.

"Can I have my head back now?" Al asked.

They walked back to the house, dirty sweaty, but happy at the same time.

Granny made them shower before stepping a foot in the kitchen. Before dinner Winry pulled Kathryn into her room.

"Kat, what's going on?"  
"What do you mean?" she asked.

"With you. There's something different about you. First, Den went nuts when you got here. Every time you've growled, it sounded real. I'm not sure, but that yelp I heard when I connected your nerves wasn't the dog. You never used to wear your hair like that, and you do it to cover your face. And these scars," she ran her hand up Kat's arm, "What happened to you?"

Kathryn sighed to her feet. She looked up at Winry with a sad gaze. "You forgot the one about my eyes being green…"

Winry's blue eyes widened. "I never noticed… Kat they're beautiful…"

"Yeah, well when compared to this," she said lifting her bangs, "anything is beautiful."

"What happened?"

"I was attacked by wolves."

"In East Central? I highly doubt that. Tell me the truth."

"But that is the truth!" Winry raised an eyebrow. "Well, they were chimeras. But they were wolves! Wolf chimeras… Still technically a wolf," Kathryn replied.

"Kathryn…" Winry sighed as she pulled her sister into a hug. "Don't scare me like that. You didn't tell us anything so we automatically assumed the worse. Please don't hide things from me."

Kathryn sighed sadly as she hugged her back. "I won't," she lied.

"Okay… I'm starving… what about you?"

"I could probably eat you I'm so hungry."

* * *

After dinner, Ed and Kat fell asleep on the couch.

It was small, so they were spooning, Ed holding Kathryn closely to him. Her arm was hanging off the side and Den slept underneath it.

"They're going to get cold without a blanket…" Alphonse whispered. He grabbed a blanket from the linen closet and draped it over the sleeping couple.

"It's like you're the older one, huh Al?" Granny asked quietly.

"They can be a handful, but someone has to look out for them when they aren't looking out for each other."

"How old are you three now? At my age I can never remember…"

"I'm fourteen, and they are fifteen."

Winry tucked Kathryn's arm under the blanket so it didn't get cold. She sat down next to their heads and smiled down at them. "She even sleeps with her hair like that," she muttered. "I still can't wrap my head around the fact that those two are "Human weapons." They look so innocent when they are like this. Fragile, small…"

"Don't let them hear you say that," Alphonse joked.

Kathryn turned around in Edward's arms and gripped him tightly. Winry smiled at the affection they showed each other, even in their sleep.

"Thanks… both of you," Al whispered.

"What? Why so formal?" Winry asked.

"You two have taken care of us all these years. You had no choice, she's blood. But me and Ed, you took us in and raised us. And I'm grateful. I know brother feels the same way although he will probably never admit it. And I'm sure Kathryn will say something sooner or later, she tends to soften up a bit when it comes to you."

"Don't worry. We know that they feel that way. They don't have to say it," Granny assured him.

"Those two, they always try to be so tough, idiots," Winry whispered.

A small sniffle could be heard from the hallway. They passed it off as the wind, but they really knew that the Major was crying again.

* * *

The next morning they stood outside the house. Al knelt next to Den and pet him goodbye while Kat and Ed finished putting on their coats and gloves.

"Thanks again, Granny," Kat said giving her a hug.

"Sure thing kiddo. You sure you don't want me to wake up your sister?"

"Yeah… As much as I want to say bye, she put so much work into our auto-mail. She should sleep."

"Yeah, not to mention the fact that she would nag us about proper care," Ed said, earning him a slap upside the head.

They began to walk down the road when Granny called out to them. "Come back once in a while for a meal with us."

"Like we'd ever come out to the boondocks for a meal," Ed replied getting another smack.

"We'll try," Kathryn replied with a smile.

"Hey you three!" Winry called tiredly from her balcony. "Come back soon, all right?"

Kathryn smiled. "Sure thing sis. We'll come back when we break our auto-mail."

Winry shook her head with a smile and waved at them. They waved back and headed for the train station.

"Just think Ed…" Kathryn said looking to the sky. "We're one step closer to the truth, and getting our bodies back," she said with a smile.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello my peoples.**

**I can't believe you didn't tell me that I repeated the same damn chapter! I thought you loved me! I thought we had something...**

**But anywhoo! I need to get writing again because we are hitting the end of how far I have written. Remember my lovelies, every review counts. I hope you liked the last chapter! I can't tell cause no one reviewed... Grrrrr.**

**Anyway! Here you go! Next chappy!**

* * *

They stood outside the charred remains of the First Branch of the Central library.

"WHA!" Ed screamed in distress.

"It's… gone. Dr. Marcoh's research is all gone…" Kathryn muttered. She walked up the steps that were still there and entered the crisped building.

"Kathryn, don't go in there. It's dangerous," Alphonse warned.

"Dangerous? Alphonse, I have fought battles, inner wars, military, and serial killers. I think I can handle a rundown building," she replied from the door frame. She crouched next to the door and picked up a book. The minute she opened the cover it reduced itself to ash. "It's all gone…"

"How could this happen!" Ed shouted.

Kathryn stood up and walked down the steps determinedly. "It's not over yet," she growled, her coat swishing around her feet with each purposeful step.

"What do you mean?" Ed asked running to catch up with her. Alphonse followed closely behind after signaling to the Major they were moving.

"There had to be staff working at the time of the fire. So many books go in and out they would have night shifts. Someone had to have grabbed _some _books to save, and maybe they already grabbed all the usable material. I have to know…"

"Major Armstrong!" someone called out from behind.

They stopped and turned to see two people in uniform running up to them.

One was female with short black hair, almost black eyes, and a mole under her left eye. The other was male, a bit taller than the woman with ear-length dirty blonde hair and what looked to be brown eyes. They stopped in front of Armstrong and saluted him.

"Second Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh," Major acknowledged them. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"You've been ordered to report back to Central command, Sir," the woman replied. Kathryn could make out the star on her jacket, signaling she was Ross. That meant the man was Brosh.

"We'll be taking over the supervision of Kathryn Rockbell, Edward Elric, and Alphonse Elric effective immediately, Sir," Brosh informed them.

Armstrong smirked and let out a soft chuckle. "They're all yours."

"What is this?" Edward shouted.

"Yeah! Why do you seem so happy to be rid of us?" Kathryn joked.

"Just when we think we're home free you give us more bodyguards? This is getting old!" Edward whined.

"There is a car for you if you need to go somewhere," Ross replied after Major had walked away.

Ed continued to throw a tantrum. "Ed shut up!" Kat growled. He stopped talking and shook from his hiding place behind his brother. She walked up to Ross's side and glanced at her with her good eye. "I don't mind the bodyguards. Just stay out of my way," she warned. She walked away down to the car followed by Ed.

Alphonse walked up to Ross and patted her shaking shoulder. "Sorry about her. She's just a bit upset. She's more pleasant than this," he assured before walking to the car.

"I don't know why, but I really thought she was about to bite off your head," Brosh whispered in her ear.

"That's what I thought," Ross stammered.

The car ride was still pleasant even though Kat was a bit moody. Edward must have said something to her to calm her down.

"All might not be lost," Ross said. This intrigued Kathryn, who had given up on the plan when they visited the main library to see what they had recovered. "There's a woman who was very knowledgeable with the material at the first branch."

Kathryn and Ed sat up in their seat, interested to hear what she had to say. "Unfortunately, she wasn't working there anymore."

"Well, why'd you tell us if it's not helpful? We need good information, not a stale trail," Kathryn replied looking out the window.

"But we do have an address."

Ed and Kat smiled at each other. They didn't hit a dead-end after all.

Alphonse looked at Brosh, who was staring out the window. "Excuse me?"

"Hmm? Oh nothing. But I was wondering… Why are you wearing a suit of armor?"

The three stiffened considerably. Thankfully, they had thought ahead about these kinds of things and had an answer.

"It's a hobby," they all replied.

Brosh turned to Ross. "A hobby, what kind of freaky hobby is that, Lieutenant?" he whispered.

"Who are these kids anyway?"

When they looked back, they were all looking out a window and sweating considerably, but not very noticeably.

"Wow, the view's great, don't you guys agree?" Kathryn asked.

"Magnificent!"

"Gorgeous!"

They arrived at apartment that the ex-librarian lived.

Kathryn knocked on the door. "Hello?" she called out.

There was no answer so she tried the door. It was unlocked and they gasped when it opened.

To the ceiling were piles and piles of books, barely even a walk way to get through the room.

"What is she, some kind of packrat!?" Kat shouted.

They walked in, more like shuffled, the only way to get through was turn sideways and go back to back with the books.

"Does someone really live here?" Brosh asked.

"Ms. Sheska? Are you there? Ms. Sheska?" Ross called out.

"Is someone there?" someone called out. It was faint and muffled, no one could have heard it.

Well, no one but Kat.

"Wait," she said, holding out her hand for the others to stop. "I heard someone. Sheska? Are you there?" she called out.

"Please help me!" she shouted back.

Kathryn looked down the aisle they had just passed and saw a hand twitching from under a large pile of books. "She's under here!" she shouted.

They worked frantically to pile the books together neatly to free the woman trapped under them. Once there was an open space and she was free, the breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you so much! I'm so sorry that I got myself trapped under all those books!" Sheska shouted from her kneeling position on the floor. The mousey girl adjusted her glasses, which widened her grey eyes. "I thought I was going to die in there!"

"It's all right, we're just happy you're okay," Al said with a smile in his voice.

"Yeah, so now she can return her life debt by helping us," Kat and Edward said evilly.

"But on a more serious note," Kathryn said, regaining her composure. "You worked at the library right?"

"YES!" Sheska shouted, causing everyone to jump. "The library was everything I could ever want! I've loved books my entire life, ever since I learned how to read! It was my dream job!" she ranted. "But alas, it was not meant to be. I got so wound up in reading everything that I forgot to do my work, so they fired me. I need a new job, or else I'll never be able to move my mother into a better hospital!" she said looking at a small photo on her desk.

"I'm sorry about that, but we need to ask you something," Kathryn said giving the girl a pat on the back.

"What the hell! Ten minutes ago she was ready to tear out my throat and now she's Mother Theresa! Does she have a split personality or something!" Ross whispered to Brosh.

"Sheska, do you remember seeing any research by a man named Tim Marcoh?" she asked.

When it came to getting information, Kathryn was the best. If they couldn't crack someone in interrogation, they'd call her up and have her do it. She could read people and decide how to approach them, and have any information she needed or a confession in under ten minutes.

"Tim Marcoh? Hmmm… Tim Marcoh… Where do I know that one?" she asked herself, tapping her index finger to her lips. She clapped her hands together with a smile. "Now I remember! There were some handwritten notes stuffed into a bookcase that didn't belong."

"That's great!" Ed said as Kat walked over to him. "That means…"

They sulked. "They were in the fire…" they said in unison.

"Did you want to read them?" Sheska asked.

Ed looked at the light fixture and sighed. "Yeah, but it's too late now… They got burned up in the fire."

Kathryn did a mini explosion with her fingers. "Poof," she added for effect.

"I remember everything in them, if that would help."

They stopped their retreat for the door. They turned around abruptly and widened their eyes at her. "HUH!?"

"Well, you see, I have a photographic memory so I remember everything I've ever seen, heard and read," she explained.

"YOU CAN DO THAT?!" Kathryn asked gripping Sheska's arms.

"Y-yes. It would take a bit, but I can write everything out for you if you'd like."

Kathryn squealed with happiness and jumped into Ed's arms, who spun her around the room.

"Thank you bookworm!" Ed said shaking her hand in gratitude, then left to help Kathryn out of the book pile she had fallen into.

"You're welcome?" she asked, not knowing whether to accept that as a compliment or not.

Five days later, Sheska had called them and told them the notes were ready.

She moved the last of the files to the desk with a thud and smiled. "Here you go, all of Tim Marcoh's notes. I know it took a while, but there was a lot to get down, as you can see."

They stared in awe at the files on her desk. "These are really them?" Ed asked. He and Kat took a file off and began to look through them.

"Yup. Written by Tim Marcoh, 1,000 easy recipes," she replied with a bright smile.

Everyone who didn't have a paper went into a small state of gloom.

Ross read through one of the recipes. "We really came all this way for a cookbook?"

"What part of this made you think it was an important document?" Brosh asked her.

"Is it not what you were looking for? I just copied down everything I remembered…"

"Sheska, are you absolutely positive you copied down everything_ exactly_ the way it was written? A flawless reproduction?" Kathryn asked over her shoulder.

"Yes, I'm one hundred percent certain!"

Kathryn and Ed shared a small smile before turning to her. "Then thanks a million, you are positively incredible!" Ed praised as they loaded up Brosh with some copies.

"We'll need to take these back to the library where there is more references for us to look at," Kathryn said setting another copy in his arms.

Kat walked over to Ed and smiled as they dug into the inside of their coats. "We almost forgot the fee," Ed said as they scribbled something down in their notebooks.

They ripped the pages out and pulled their pocket watches off their belts. Kathryn gave hers to Sheska and Ed to Ross.

"This should cover the work you did for us," Kathryn told her, picking up the rest of the files. "It's our pin number and watch for I.D. Pull the amount on our slips and give it to Sheska. And we'll know if you shorted her," Kathryn said playfully as they walked out the door.

Ross and Sheska glance at each other before looking at the slips.

"WHAT!" they shouted.

"ARE WE SURE THAT'S NOT THE PIN NUMBER?" Sheska screamed.

"DID THE PEN SLIP AND CREAT EXTRA ZEROS!" Ross shouted in disbelief.

"FORGET ZEROS THEY MUST HAVE FORGOTTEN THE DECIMAL POINT!"

"WHO ARE THESE KIDS!"

Kathryn and Edward sat at the table reading through the files while Al gathered books from the shelves. The study room was small, but still big at the same time, a large window providing light for their research.

"These are just cookbooks right? What could they possibly have to do with alchemy?" Brosh asked.

"Alchemy can be extremely dangerous if put in the wrong hands," Edward said, not looking up from the notes he held in his hand.

"That's why we alchemists put our notes into a code. To the average person, these would be ordinary cooking recipes for a night at home," Kathryn explained.

"But to alchemists such as us, they are really advanced alchemic notes. The only problem is that we don't know the code and we have to figure that out."

Ed and Al conversed amongst themselves, talking about reference materials they would need.

"It will take a while, but we will manage. We sort of know the basics of each other's notes so we can use that if need be. Like Ed, his are in the form of a travelogue seeing as he moves around a lot. And Colonel Mustangs are pretty much women, but also dates at the same time. Mine are all references to auto-mail, mechanics, and medical knowledge," Kathryn explained to Brosh.

"Auto-mail? Really? You're starting to sound like your sister…" Ed muttered.

Kat hit him over the head with a hard cover book. "Just because I didn't become a mechanic doesn't mean that I never paid attention to when Granny was teaching us."

"Let's get started, this should be easy."

* * *

It was most definatly NOT easy.

They all sat with their heads on the table in a large cloud of gloom.

"Dammit Marcoh, why'd you have to make your notes so fucking hard to crack?" Kathryn asked.

"Maybe we should ask Doctor Marcoh, Brother," Alphonse asked.

"NO!" Ed said jumping out of his seat. "Calling Marcoh would admit defeat!"

"So now this is a contest?" Kathryn moaned.

"Excuse me," a small voice came from the door.

"Hey Sheska," Kathryn smiled lightly.

Brosh left to his post outside the door with Ross. Sheska pulled up a chair at the insistence of everyone.

"Because of the money you gave me, I was able to move my mother to a better hospital. And with the leftovers, I bought a storage dock down the street for all of my books so I didn't have another incident," she said with a smile. "I appreciate what you two did for me," she said with a bow of gratitude.

"It's nothing really, we just did what was right, nothing much."

"Well, have you had any luck at cracking the notes?"

They went into another state of gloom, groaning and moaning as Kathryn banged her head against the table.

"That bad huh?"

"You have no idea…" Kathryn replied.

"Have you found another job yet?" Alphonse asked her.

It was Sheska's time to gloom and moan.

"But anyway, I just want you to know that you made me happy. It's nice to know that even pathetic messes like me can help out with something important."

"You're not a pathetic mess, Sheska," Kathryn said.

Her eyes widened as she looked at them.

"I think the dedication you have to reading is a talent all on its own. And your memory is incredible. Have more faith in yourself," Alphonse told her.

"Yeah, one of these days that memory will really help you out again like it did today," Edward told her.

"YO!" Hughes shouted from the door.

"Hughes, what do you want?" Kathryn groaned.

"Major Armstrong told me you were here," he said as he strode into the room. He slammed his palms angrily on the table, causing Ross, Brosh and Sheska to jump. Kathryn just yawned and put her feet on the table. "What gives guys, I thought I told you to give me a shout next time you were in Central!" Hughes whined.

"Well, you had just gotten rid of us, Hughes. We didn't think you would want to hear from us so soon, seeing as the reason we got stuck with Armstrong for a bodyguard was because you had a lot of work to do," Kathryn replied.

"They talk to Colonel Hughes like he's an old friend," Brosh whispered from outside the door.

"Just how high up are these kids?" Ross squealed.

"Well now I really do. Ever since the First Branch burned down, we've had a lot to deal with. We still need to settle the Tucker/Chimera deal. Oh, sorry. I bet it's still sore," he apologized when he saw the look on Ed's face. He glanced at Kat who only showed a look of indifference.

"So the burning of the First Branch is getting to virtually everyone," Kathryn thought out loud.

"Yup. We stored all of our case files there. It's not easy trying to work without them."

Kathryn and Ed grinned evilly and looked at Sheska. "Hey Sheska…" Ed sang.

"I think we just found you a jooobbb," Kat sang sweetly.

"Lieutenant Colonel, we've got just the thing you need. Or shall I say person?"

Kathryn stood up and pulled Sheska from her chair. "This is Sheska. She has the most amazing ability to read and remember exactly every single detail, word and coffee stain on each page of any document. And I'm sure she read the case files at the First Branch when she worked there."

"That's all I need to hear! You're hired!" Hughes shouted. "My office pays well so don't worry."

"But-I-uh- Thanks so much!" Sheska said hugging Kathryn. "I'll have faith Al, just like you told me to!"

Hughes grabbed the back of her shirt and dragged her from the room. She yelled her thanks as Hughes laughed evilly.

They smiled and waved. "He looks like a kidnapper," Kathryn commented.

"She may not be thanking us for long," Ed replied. He sighed and put his head on the table. "How'd it go? 'I think dedication is a talent all on its own?' Very smooth little brother, very smooth."

"Well, it's what I always think when I look at a few certain people I know," Al replied.

"Well then those certain someones should get back to work," Kathryn said grabbing Ed's hair and pulling him into a sitting position as she walked to her chair.

They studied the notes with a renewed vigor, working hours on end only stopping for the occasional coffee break when their hands cramped.

They spent a few more days on the notes, a few times Kathryn and Edward had burst out of the room in frustration causing Ross to pull out her fire arm. They had fallen asleep in their chairs, waking up with even more cramped muscles than they had before.

Kathryn had ditched her glove, the friction from her pens rubbing away at her skin. They went through volume after volume of notes, pulling book after book off the shelves.

The clock struck six one night, the sunset illuminating the streets.

"The library's closing," Ross said as she shook her partner awake.

"They've been at this for ten days. I'm surprised they're still going," he replied.

He went to open the door when a shout came from in the room.

"THIS CAN'T BE RIGHT!" Kathryn screamed, her outburst followed by a loud thump.

They entered the room as Kathryn slammed her first into the wall, causing the wood to crack and split. Blood dripped down her knuckles and stained the wood. Edward sat cross-legged on the floor, his head in his hands. Alphonse sat with his back to bookshelf, a few books littered around him. The whole table had been flipped, the notes and books scattered across the room.

"What happened? What did you do to this place?" Brosh asked.

"Kathryn, you're bleeding…" Ross said as she moved a step closer.

Kat just slammed her fist into the wall again, making an indent right next to the other one. She let her head rest against the wall.

"Just because you can't crack it, doesn't mean that you should throw a tantrum," Ross said.

Kathryn just laughed. "A tantrum, you say? A _tantrum?_ Does this look like a fucking tantrum?" she asked holding up her hand. She just laughed and turned around, leaning against the wall and letting her head thump against it. She put her hand to her forehead, smearing blood on herself, and pushed her hair out of her face, not giving two fucks whether they saw her scars or not.

"The thing is, we _did_ crack the code," Alphonse said with remorse.

"But that's a good thing, right?"

Edward knocked the table over again. "There's nothing good about this! This research is way past the point of calling it 'Devil'. It should have been burned before the fire. It really is evil," Edward said.

"But what's so evil about it?" Brosh asked.

"Because," Kathryn growled. The two guards looked at her and gasped. Her eyes were glowing red with rage. She stared at the two, not letting them break eye contact with her. "The main ingredient for a Philosopher's Stone is human life." Maria and Denny gasped, not sure whether to be more shocked about Kat's eyes, or the horrible truth in the notes. "Even to make one tiny stone, it would take numerous human sacrifices," she said with a snarl, sounding more and more like a dog.

Edward looked over at Kathryn, bringing himself out of his pity for a split second to see what was wrong. He jumped from the floor and ran over to Kathryn.

"Kathryn, your emotions are too strong," he said pulling her into a standing position. "You have to do it," he said grabbing her necklace.

"No I'm fine," she snarled wrenching it out of his hands.

"Kathryn listen to me!" he said slamming her against the wall. "Something bad could happen if you don't do it. It's trying to get out, I suggest you let it."

She looked at Brosh and Ross. "But what about them?"

Edward glanced at them over his shoulder. "Everything that has happened tonight, everything you are learning that we already know, must never _ever _leave this room. Al," he said looking at his brother. "Shut the door so they don't try to run."

Al stood and shut the door, standing in front of it before they could wrap their head around the situation.

Ed ripped off the necklace and Kat changed into her wolf form. She snarled, growled, eyes darting around the room. She did everything but foam at the mouth.

"What the hell!" Ross shouted.

"Kathryn," Ed whispered as he knelt next to her. She growled at him, her eye still an intense red. "Try to relax, find a happy place. You have to relax," he said grabbing her head. He scratched behind her ear, one of her favorite spots as a wolf.

She closed her eyes and breathed calming breaths, thoughts of chasing rabbits flittering through her mind.

Not powerful enough.

She thought of tearing out Scar's throat and putting his head on a silver platter. Her tail wagged and thumped on the wood.

"Open your eyes," Ed commanded. She did and he smiled. "Yellow. No red. You can go back now," he said clipping her necklace back on.

She stood and shook her head. "Thanks. I needed that," she said. She glanced at her guards and smiled at the sheer horror that was on their face. "If you think that's weird, my eye's used to be blue."

"Kat…"

"What?" she asked. Ed nodded at the two. "Oh yeah, my threat. And if that leaves this room, I will… Hmm… I've used all the good ones. I'll tear out your livers and eat them for lunch. Yeah, that sounds good," she said with a satisfied nod.

"W-w-w-w-w…" Ross stuttered.

"Please, just pretend none of this happened," Edward said.

"I can't let this go. There's no way I can forget what you just did," Ross finally said.

"Pretend this never happened," Kathryn barked out. When Ross showed no signs of standing down, Kathryn strode over to her and met her eye to eye. "That's an order, Second Lieutenant."

Ross looked utterly defeated. "Y-yes Sir."

Kathryn walked past them over to the door. "We'll come back and clean this tomorrow. Ed, get rid of as much of our notes as you can. I'm tired and going to bed," she said as Alphonse moved and she walked out the door.


	20. Chapter 20

**AHHHHH IT'S THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

**AND I DIDN'T POST ON SUNDAY! SON OF A BIIIITTTTCCCCHHHHHH!**

**So sorry guys! I totally thought about it then I had this dinner thing, and shit was hectic! But now I'm trying to get this to you before my computer dies! Let's hope I do!**

**No, I know it's a little late, but would you guys want me to do a Fullmetal Halloween fanfic? I want to, but I need your opinions. So leave me a review or a comment about possibly a plot (if you want), the characters you want it to be about, and the rating (But who are we kidding, if it as no smut get out). So TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME! I WANNAWANNAWANNAWANNAWANNA DO IT!**

**Okay so here you go, and I will have a special holiday treat out for you tomorrow! MUAHAHAHA!**

**(And if you were wondering I'm a sexy witch for Halloween)**

* * *

"They're held up in their rooms _again_?" Armstrong asked Ross and Brosh.

"Yes, we can't get them to eat either," Ross replied.

"Fatigue must be catching up to them," Major said rubbing his chin. "They devoted all of their energy to these notes…"

Maria and Denny turned to each other. "They worked so hard to decipher those notes only to find out that…"

"And what we found out…" Denny said as he shivered.

"Yes, well we're not all perfect," she said coming to Kat's defense.

"Yes, well, I think I would act the same way if I found out what they did. And if I were in her position I think I would have jumped out the window and terrorized the town."

"What was that?" Armstrong asked them.

"Oh! Nothing!" they said waving their hands.

"YOUR BEHAVIOUR IS MOST SUSPICIOUS!"

* * *

A knock came from the door.

"Go away…" Ed said quietly.

"Are you sure about that?" Kathryn asked from outside the door.

"Oh… Come in Kat."

She came in and sat on the floor next to Ed. He lay on the couch with his arms folded under his head. Alphonse sat with his back resting against it on the other side.

"You two should really eat something…" Alphonse said to them.

Kathryn watched the squeaking ceiling fan turn slowly. "No thanks. I'm not hungry."

"Pretty awful huh?" Ed asked. He reached his right arm out to the ceiling. "It's like, it's so hard to grasp the truth, because it always slips away. But now that we finally have the truth held tight," he said clenching his fist. "The truth is now too deadly to hold."

"Just like a rattle snake…" Kathryn said. "You can chase it all you want, and it will run away. But once you catch it, one bite is all it takes for everything to end."

Ed huffed and put his arm over his eyes. "I'm starting to think that this is God's special way of torturing people who have committed sins and broken taboos."

"It makes me have to wonder, if we'll be like this all of our lives…" Kathryn said tracing the scars on her face.

Ed sighed. "Al… there's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while… But I've been too scared to say anything."  
"What is it?" Alphonse asked.

He took a deep breath before starting. "I-

He was cut off by a loud pounding on the door.

"ELRIC BROTHERS I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

Kathryn and Edward sat up, Alphonse looked over his shoulder at the door.

"OPEN UP! THIS IS THE MAJOR!"

"Ah hell," Kathryn said.

"What do we do?" Al asked.

"We ignore him, that's what," Ed said looking away from the door.

Kathryn moved up to the couch and sat next to him. She pulled her knees to her chest and lay her head on her knees. "Ed we can't avoid him forever…"

The door burst open, the handle torn out of the wood by Armstrong. Maria and Denny stood behind him crying waterfalls.

"THAT IS CORRECT KATHRYN ROCKBELL! I KNOW WHAT IT SAID EDWARD ELRIC!"

They all started screaming and crying their own waterfalls.

"HOW TRAGIC! TO THINK THAT THE LEGEND OF THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE IS SUCH A TERRIBLE SECRET!"

Kathryn looked at their guards with a growl.

"We're really sorry," Ross said holding up her hands in surrender and avoiding eye contact.

"It's hard to stay quiet when someone like him asks you…"

"I can't imagine the military being behind something like that. Oh, the truth is more cruel than we bargained for!"

Edward's eyes widened. "The truth…"

"Ed?" Kathryn questioned.

"Do you remember what Marcoh said? At the station?"

They all thought back. "Oh yeah…" Kathryn started. "He said, 'You might be able to reach the truth within the truth'. I didn't know what he was talking about back then…"

"It's the same with alchemical notes. The surface is only a portion of the truth."

"That means there's still more to uncover," Kathryn said with determination.

She glanced around the room and caught Ross and Brosh staring at her arm. Both of them. And then Ed's arm.

She sighed and glanced up. "We're going to need some light."

* * *

Armstrong laid out a map of Central City on the table. "Currently there are four operational alchemy laboratories in Central that have connections to the government. To narrow it down more, Marcoh worked in the third laboratory. We should start there… It's the most suspected."

Edward sat on the couch with his hand on his chin, gazing at the map. Everyone else stood around him while Kathryn paced next to the table.

"Me and Al went to every lab in the city… None were doing any remarkable research," he said, his eyes darting across the map.

Kathryn looked at the map with a glance and pointed to a small crossed out square. "The fifth laboratory… I think that's where we need to go."

"But it's currently unused. The building is structurally unsound so it was shut down," Ross said reading out of a folder in her hands.

"Yes, but if I remember my days of playing Central Cities trivia with Falman, that lab was closed a year after Marcoh disappeared. It's this one, I'm sure of it."

"How can you be so sure?" Brosh asked.

"Look what's next door."

"A prison?" Ed asked.

"Philosopher's Stones are made out of human life. The prison never returned the bodies of the condemned to the families once they were killed. They would never keep a factory running after doing something like that."

"Why do I have the feeling we're getting involved in something very dangerous?" Ross asked, looking very sick.

"That's why we told you to pretend like you never heard anything!" Al scolded.

Armstrong rolled up the map and stood from his seat. "This has the potential of becoming a political nightmare. I will look into what we have talked about… In the meantime. Officers, speak of this to no one."

"Sir!" they said saluting him.

"And you three! Behave yourselves!"

"WHA!" they shouted.

He growled, steam coming out of his nose as he towered over them. "I know you three! You were thinking of sneaking into this building and taking a look around, weren't you! ADMIT IT!" he shouted.

They cowered under him. "We weren't! We weren't! We promise!" they shouted.

Kathryn sighed. "I feel so bare…" she said as she clapped her hands. She slammed them into the stone wall and pulled out two items. One was a very large sheath, the other her sword. She dropped the sheath and hugged the sword. "Oh baby! Mommy missed you soooo much!" she said as she rubbed her face on the flat surface of the blade.

"WHAT IS THAT!" Brosh and Ross shouted.

"This is my baby," Kathryn said holding up the blade. She swung it around in tiny circles, testing the weight and regaining the feel of it. "Oh, I missed it so much. Armstrong, you wanna try to hold it again?"

"No. Once was enough…" he said.

"Suit yourself," she said as she slid it into the sheath. "Ahh… Just like old times… Except I ditched that stupid uniform… As amazing as I looked in that, it was too heavy."

She leaned the sword against the wall and plopped down on the couch. "Goodnight."

Armstrong left and the guards left to stand watch outside the door. Kat and Ed put on their under jackets, Kathryn slung her sheath across her back, and they left through the window.

"Yeah, sure we weren't," Ed said with a smile at Kathryn as they ran through the darkened streets.

They came up to the location of lab 5 in no time, peeking around the corner of the wall surrounding it. "A guard stationed at an abandoned building? Yeah, there's nothing going on here," Kathryn said sarcastically.

They backed up behind the wall and looked around. "So how do we get in?" Al asked.

"We could make our own entrance," Ed replied.

"They'd see the light from the transmutation, we can't risk it. I guess that means up and over," Kathryn said looking up the wall. "Boost me."

Ed and Al laced their fingers and held Kathryn's foot. They flung her into the air and she landed silently on the wall. Alphonse then boosted Ed up the wall and he landed with a wobble. Kathryn's hand darted out to stabilize him.

"How is it that you have twenty more pounds yet you aren't falling?" Ed asked as they unwrapped the bard wire for Al to climb up.

"It's because I trained with this thing on my back. It's like a part of me."

Al climbed up the wall, Kathryn looking around for people headed their way. When the coast was clear, they jumped down from the wall nearly twenty feet.  
"So happy I can do this without injury finally," Kathryn muttered to herself. "Okay, quiet as possible. You two check the main door to see if it's open. I'll go the other way and see if there is a back door or something," she said running off.

They checked the door, locked.

Meeting back up, they explained their discoveries.

"They aren't taking any chances. All the doors are locked…" Kathryn said. "But I found another way."

They walked around the corner and stopped under an air duct.

"Nice find. Gimme a boost," Ed said.

Alphonse and Kathryn weaved their fingers together and hoisted Ed up to the vent. He took off the cover and looked inside.

"It looks like it goes all the way back. You two wait here. I'll check it out," he said as he shimmied into the vent.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Alphonse asked.

"It doesn't matter if I'll be okay, your body is too big to fit in here. Kathryn, you need to stay out here and listen for anyone coming so you and Al can move before he's seen," Ed said moving through the vent. "I'll be back soon," he finished as his feet disappeared from view.

"It's not my fault I got big…" Alphonse whined. He sat down under the shaft and Kathryn stood silently by, memorizing every scent and noise of the surrounding area.

Ed shuffled through the vent, not being able to go very fast due to the tight squeeze.

"This is even tighter than I expected… If I were normal sized I would never fit in here… It's a good thing I'm sma-

He stopped wiping some cobwebs out of his way to gloom. He had almost called himself small…

He continued on until he found another vent. He took out the grate and dropped into the hallway beneath him. He looked around. Small lights were on every few feet, low to the ground. The hallway was littered with debris and the floor and walls were full of cracks.

"There's just enough light to show the floor…" he thought out loud. "Abandoned," he laughed. "Bingo."

He continued on through the hallways. He went through a hole in the wall and stared. A large transmutation circle was set in the floor, a large stone in the middle.

"What the… Could this be where the transmute the Philosopher's Stone?" he asked, continuing forward into the room and looking around.

"It is," came a reply.

Ed turned in the direction of the voice. A man in a suit of armor walked out of the shadows, his sword drawn at his side. "I don't know who you are, but you seem to know much about the stone… Too much," he said as he continued to walk through the room. He came to a stop. "I have been entrusted to guard this place. You may call me Number 48."

"Well, aren't you getting a bit familiar…" Ed said, Kathryn beginning to rub off on him.

"I have been ordered to eliminate any trespassers who come here, so my face will be the last you see. Sorry I have to do this, kid."

"I'm sorry too," Ed replied, taking off his glove. "Sorry a "kid" like me is going to whoop your ass!" he smirked as he transmuted his auto-mail.

Number 48 chuckled. "Alchemy, huh? Then let's see your skills," he said as he rushed up to Edward.

_So fast…_

48 went straight for a head shot, Ed ducked it easily. 48 brought his sword down on Ed's arm, tearing the jacket sleeve.

"So your steel limb extends up your arm," 48 inquired. "It just saved your life. Too bad, though. My sword cuts through even steel!" he shouted going for another attack.

"Not today, buddy! If I break this again, Winry'll kill me!" Edward said, blocking the attack.

He pushed away the blade and kicked 48 in the stomach, sending his backwards. A klong echoed through the room.

"I know that sound. You wouldn't happen to be hollow inside, would you?"

"You're correct. How did you know?" 48 asked.

"I spar with a guy like you all the time, I could tell by the feel."

"Oh? So there are others like me on the outside?" he asked.

"Makes me sick. To think that there idiot out there besides me who would think of binding a soul to a suit of armor," Edward spat.

"Well then, let me tell you a bit more about myself. 48 was my number on death row. I was a serial killer known as Slicer. I should have been executed two years ago, but my employers had another idea in mind. They needed my skills, so they set me aside and put me in this body. Now I'm their guard dog."

"So that means there's a seal on your armor, keeping your soul in it, correct?" Ed asked.

"I see I don't have to explain everything to you. I don't know much about alchemy, but it seems the soul is tied to the blood, and the iron in the blood bonds with the metal of the armor…" he said as he removed the cloth covering his face. "Here is my anchoring point," he said as he lifted his mask, showing the blood rune. "Destroy it and you win."

"Awfully considerate of you to show me your weak point, old man," Edward taunted.

"I enjoy the thrill of danger in combat. And don't call me old man."

"If you're being that considerate, maybe you could be nice enough to let me go? Just thought I'd ask."

"Please. A serial killer would never stand by and let his prey escape, unless it was part of his play, would he? No, now here I come!"

* * *

Kathryn and Alphonse stood outside the building, still waiting for Ed.

"Brother is taking a long time…"

"I'm sure he's fine," Kathryn replied. She leaned against the building, arms crossed and a sour expression plastered on her face. She was getting a little annoyed with Edward. He wasn't back yet… It was quite irritating.

"I wonder if he's lost…"

Kat snorted. "That sounds like him…"

A shuffle came from above them. Kathryn looked up automatically, the noise not fitting in with the surroundings. A large figure was falling towards them.

"Al!" she shouted as she ran and pushed him out of the way of a cleaver that nearly hit him. The blade tore through her pants and carved a section out of her thigh.

She rolled away from the fight and propped herself against the building, wincing as she put weight on her leg.

"You're good… No wonder I lost last time…" the figure said. It was a suit of armor, a cleaver in one hand and a carving knife in the other. "This should be fun."

"Who are you?" Alphonse asked.

"I'm Number 66. At least, it has been since I got the job. Now, if you knew who I really was, you would probably piss your pants. Before I finish you, I'll tell you my real name," the armor replied.

Something seemed familiar about 66 to Kathryn. She couldn't put her finger on it. She looked him over. He had said, "No wonder I lost last time". He carried a cleaver, his voice sounded familiar, it was someone who she had fought, who was most likely dead, considering he wore a suit of armor.

She tried to stand, but collapsed because of her still bleeding wound. "I know who you are… yet my pants are still dry," she growled.

"Sorry sweet heart. They are wet, but not from your piddle," he said referring to the blood dripping from her leg, pooling on the ground.

"Shut up, Barry the Chopper."

Alphonse gasped. "Are you sure?"

"You got it girly! Now, if you wanna scream, do it now."

Kathryn tried to stand, but fell again. "Kathryn, if this is Barry the Chopper, then he is dead. Go find brother and help him."

"You sure?"

"He can't hurt me like he can you and brother. He needs more help than I. Go find him," Alphonse told her, taking a fighting position against Barry.

She nodded her head and crawled to the vent shaft. Barry tried to attack her, but Al defended her. She looked to the vent. Her sword wouldn't fit. She took off the sheath and set it on the ground. Forcing herself up, she jumped to the vent and pulled herself up into it.

She began to crawl, following the drag marks in the dust for Ed's direction. She hissed every now and then, her leg scraping against the walls of the shaft. She stopped at the open vent grate Ed had used. She dropped down with some effort, falling into the crumbling wall.

A clang could be heard ahead of her. She wandered in its direction, limping to an opening in the wall. She hid behind a column in the room and glanced around.

She saw Ed doing a backflip from another man in armor. The man's sword swiped out and caught him in the shoulder. She wanted to move, but knew she shouldn't. Ed continued to flip and roll away from the man's attacks.

"Like a monkey…" the man said when Edward collapsed, breathing hard. "It's nice to have some lively prey for once. But your wound and your exhaustion will lead to your death. Those friends of yours, the ones outside. They are being dealt with as we speak. They can't save you," he said. "Even if one of them tries to escape to reach you, 66 will have chopped them into pieces. I'm sure that girl was first."

Kathryn looked closely at his helmet, the number 48 painted on his shoulder. She thought back to Barry, the number 66 on his helmet, his fake identity being 66.

_So this guy's name is 48, and he's just like Barry. Hopefully Ed knows this by now._

"This ally of yours that's outside, is he strong?"

"Yes, but not as strong as me," 48 replied.

Edward laughed. "Well then there is nothing to worry about. I haven't one a fight against the armor, or the girl. And she has beaten the armor several times, there's no way they will lose," he said, standing from the floor and wiping the blood from his lip.

"Even if your friends did defeat my companion, this building is hard to navigate. They'll never make it in time.

"You think so?" Edward asked, glancing to 48's right. "Al! Now!" he shouted.

Kathryn and 48 turned around to look.

"What? When did he…?!" 48 asked. "A trick!" he turned back around, but was too late. Ed came up from behind and sliced his head clean off.

"That wasn't fair!" 48 shouted.

"All's fair in a fight to the death," Edward replied. He changed his auto-mail back and picked up the head.

"What's up? You haven't destroyed my blood rune yet. Hurry and finish me off."

"Why bother? Now that your head is detached from your body, there is no soul to control it, so now it's just a heap of metal. Plus, I've got some questions you need to answer."

"About the Philosopher's Stone?" 48 asked.

"Tell me everything you know."

"Never."

"You know, you're in no position to argue, loser," Ed said, shaking the head.

48 laughed. "I haven't lost yet."

Kathryn watched the body rise from the ground and poise to strike.

"EDWARD!" she screamed.

She was too late, the body cut through Ed's side.

Edward passed her off as a figment of his imagination, for neither of the armors said anything. He dropped the head and fell to the ground. He shuffled away from the two. "Impossible!"

"No one ever said there couldn't be two souls in a suit of armor," the body said, he voice a bit higher than the head.

"I forgot to mention that when they caught Slicer…" 48 started.

"…they found out there were two killers. We're brothers," the other finished.

"The head and body are separate! Lousy cheats…"

"Who was it that said, 'All is fair in a fight to the death,'?"

"Let us begin round two. Oh, and before I forget. This is my blood rune, even the playing field. But looking at your shaky legs, I highly doubt you will beat me."

He went for a slice to Ed's stomach, missing, then jabbing him in the gut with the hilt of his blade. Ed flew into a column and slumped to the floor.

Kathryn came out of the shadows, her blood pumping with adrenaline. She clapped and extended her auto-mail plating and ran to the younger brother.

He turned around and whipped out his sword, slicing open her cheek, but not before she ran her blade through his stomach, separating his arms from his legs.

"He might not, but I can," she said.

The little brother fell to the ground in two halves as Kathryn changed her auto-mail back to normal. She looked over to Edward as he fell over.

"Edward!" she shouted. She ran over to him and pulled him upright against the column. "Oh my god, are you okay? I tried to warn you!" she started to worry. She checked his wound but he held her away.

"So it was you…" he whispered. "What happened to your leg?" he asked looking down at the blood the was pooling again.

"Jut a scratch," she lied. "It was the guy outside as I pushed Al out of the way. Al sent me in here when we realised it was Barry the Chopper, who is supposedly dead."

He shook his head at her lie and smiled at her. "I'm going to guess that you figured it out?"

She smiled it reply.

"Brother?"

"I hate to admit it little brother, but we've lost."

"You're not going to tell me there was a third brother, are you?" Edward asked, eyeing the legs.

"No, it's just the two of us. That was some fight kids," 48 said.

"Then tell us all you know," Kathryn said, standing from her spot next to Ed, her leg threatening to give out from under her.

"Can't do that girly. Just hurry up and destroy us, then leave this place."

"We won't murder anybody," Ed replied.

"How naïve. How can you call us human with bodies like these? I didn't say kill us, I said destroy us."

"If I accept that you guys aren't human, then that would mean I don't consider my girlfriend or brother human either. They _are_ human, and so are you two. I won't kill you."

48 began laughing uncontrollably. "Oh, the irony. My brother and I have robbed, destroyed, and killed ever since I can remember. And we were looked down upon and called soulless devils. And now that we have nothing but souls, someone calls us human. How very amusing. You want to know about the stone? Fine, I'll tell you."

"Brother! If you tell them, _they'll _destroy us!"

"They'll destroy us anyway. Theres nothing to be afraid of, we've already died once. This is my farewell gift to you, I'll tell you everything. But I must warn you, I know nothing about the stone itself. But I can tell you about who made it, the ones who ordered us to guard this place."

"Spit it out!" Kathryn growled.

"They're-

He was cut off by blades piercing his helmet.

"Now now, we can't have you spoil the ending 48," a busty woman said as the blades pulled the helmet to face her.

"What are you two doing here? Oh well… More fun for us I guess, huh Lust?" a boy with green palm-tree hair asked the woman.

* * *

**DUNDUNDUN! Again guys, tell me what I should write! I NEED YOU MOTHERFUCKERS! COME TO MY AID MINIONS OF DARKNESS! EEEEEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHHEHEHHEHE HEHE!**


	21. Chapter 21

**OKAY! NEXT CHAPPY!**

**Twenty one... Wholey fuck nuggets... FUCK I'M PROUD!**

**You guys can expect the Halloween story up by Wednesday. No later. I promise.**

**HEY LOOK IT'S STILL SUNDAY! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA YAYAYY!**

**Again guys, I need to know who's gonna be in the Halloween story, so tell me!**

**I'll go now... ENJOY MOTHERFUCKER WAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!**

**(FYI. Kinda short today. (DON'T KILL ME EDWARD! I MEANT THE CHAPTER WAS SHORT! NOT YOU!) YOU GUYS DON'T KILL ME EITHER!)**

* * *

Kathryn and Edward stared at the two new figures in the room. Kathryn's leg was on its last… legs. She could barely stand anymore as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.

"I wonder how these two found this place? Meddlesome children," the woman called Lust said to the boy. She tossed 48's head in the air and sliced him in half, her arm now a large blade. Kat watched as her arm morphed back into an arm.

The little brother began to shout. "Please! Just give us another body! We can still fight! Give us a new body! Give us-

He was cut off by the boy picking up their sword and stabbing his blood rune. "Shut the hell up before you say something you'll regret. Do you realize what you almost did? You almost kill our human sacrifice!" he said as he repeatedly stabbed the body. "And if chicky-poo didn't cut you in half, you probably would have almost killed her too! Two human sacrifices! Do you realize how hard those are to come by! And you almost revealed our plans! You almost ruined everything! You two are-

"Envy… He's dead," Lust interrupted him.

He stopped stabbing the rune. "Oh? Well, he had no backbone at all… He is- er… was so weak, it made me sick…" He looked over at Ed and Kat who were staring at him with horror.

He walked over to Ed. Kathryn jumped in-between them and growled at Envy. "Hm? You're Ms. Scarred aren't you? Pleased to meetcha!" he said with a smile. "Same goes to you Mr. Fullmetal runt. You two both saw something you weren't supposed to. But I think he saw more… Maybe I should kill you after all…"

Kathryn growled more fiercely at Envy as Ed stood from his place. She went to swing at Envy when he kicked her on her wound. She crumpled to the ground in agonizing pain, but didn't make a sound. "Low blow…" she huffed.

Edward sent a kick to Envy's head that missed by an inch. "Whoa! Cutie and Shorty still got some fight left in them!"

"Quit calling me small!" Edward huffed as he took a fighting stance at Envy.

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to fight…" Lust said.

"Well you started this fight and I'm gonna end it! I'll beat you so bad that you'll wish you never-

He clapped his hands and raised his hands to change his auto-mail when it broke and fell limp to his side. He had noticed something wrong with his auto-mail in his fight before, but he didn't think it would give out on him like this. Kathryn began to stand ignoring the pain.

"Looks like your auto-mail's broken…" Lust stated. Her eyes continuously shifted to Kat.

"Lucky!" Envy shouted. He ran up to Ed, grabbed his braid and slammed his knee into his stomach. Ed coughed and wheezed as Envy leaned in close to him. "I was kidding when I said I would kill you," he said sweetly.

"Edward! You bastard!" Kat screamed as she ran to attack Envy. He simply side-stepped her and tripped her bad leg, sending her sprawling to the floor. She growled and stood, turning to face Envy. She reached to grab her necklace with her auto-mail when Lust's fingers pierced her hand, hitting several gears and springs. Her hand fell limp.

"I was wondering when you would try to wolf us… We know all about you, so don't try anything like that on us, or else I might just chop off your hand," Lust said as she pulled her finger out of Kat's hand.

Envy came up kicked Kat in the stomach, sending her flying to the floor. She crawled over to Ed with the last of her strength. "Ed… come on, don't give up…" she whispered as she lightly shook him.

"Aww… so sweet," Envy sighed before he walked over and kicked Kathryn's back, causing her to fall all the way to the ground. She gasped and moaned at the excruciating pain that flowed through her body, black spots clouding her vision.

"Just remember that we are letting you two live…" Lust said before they passed out.

* * *

Alphonse barely managed to block the chop that Barry had aimed to his head.

"What, got something on your mind? I would too if I knew my memories with artificial. Tiniest doubt enters your mind and you have a breakdown!"

"Shut up! I'm not…" Al stumbled on his words as he blocked another attack from Barry.

"Just accept it… You'll feel better that way."

"Why you…" Al went to punch him when Barry hit his open side. Al stumbled back as Barry reared to chop him.

"I've got you now!" he shouted. Then two gunshots went off, going through Barry's raised hand and knocking his cleaver out of his hand.

"Don't move, or next time I'll aim for your head." Ross said with her weapon still aimed at Barry. Brosh stood beside her with his gun focused on him as well. "Now hand the big guy over to us…"

"Second Lieutenant Ross!" Al shouted.

"Who the hell are you guys!"

"The guards of the guy you're trying to kill."

"Bodyguards! Dammit, just when this was getting fun! Hmmm… this is starting to be a pain…"

A hum started to sound from the building. "What's that sound?" Brosh asked.

The building them exploded, the walls cracking and crumbling, dust and debris flying out windows at the four as it began to tumble and fold in on itself.

"An explosion! Sergeant, we need to evacuate!" Ross shouted. She looked over to Al. "What are you doing? Run!"

Al just stood and stared at the falling building. "Brother! And Kathryn! They're still in there! I have to help them!"

"You fool! You'll get crushed as well if you go in there!" Ross shouted as she pulled on his arm to stop him.

Barry stared at the building. "I guess it's time to… RUN LIKE HELL!" he shouted as he escaped.

Alphonse sat on the ground with Ross trying to pull him with her. "My brother… and sister…"

"Right now you have to think about saving yourself at the moment!" Ross tried to reason with him.

"Hey! I came to deliver a couple packages," Envy said as he walked from the rubble with Ed over his shoulder and Kat tucked into his arm. For someone who looked so skinny, he was pretty damn strong. He dropped them off with Ross. "His wounds aren't too bad, but she's got a deep cut on her leg. They're both losing a lot of blood so they should get to a hospital pretty quick. You should take better care of these two. They're quite gifted, we can't afford to lose them."

"What are you guys doing? We have to move!" Brosh shouted at them.

"Give me a hand with these two!" Ross shouted back at him. "You should run too!" she shouted to Envy over the loud crashes of the falling rocks. He was nowhere in sight.

Brosh had Kathryn on his back while Al scooped Ed up into his arms. "Let's go!" Brosh shouted at her.

They ran for their lives, Brosh having slight difficulties keeping pace. A final explosion went through the building before it finaly collapsed all the way, no longer standing tall.

* * *

Kathryn got sick of being in her bed. She no longer needed an IV so she just got out of bed and walked over to Ed's which was right next to hers.

"Kathryn, you shouldn't be walking on that leg," Ed scolded her.

"Oh fuck my leg," she said as she sat on the side of his bed. "How are you feeling? You got the extent of the injuries."

"I'm fine… I wish I could get up and move though… I prefer the okay to move to getting up on the chance that I won't fall."

"Oh hardy har har," she laughed.

Ross and Brosh walked through the door. "Oh! It's good to see you up! And- KATHRYN WHY ARE YOU OUT OF BED!" Brosh screamed.

"Any louder and you'll blow my eardrum!" Kathryn whined as her ear buzzed. "God, this wolf thing sucks at some points."

Brosh cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Where are we?" Ed asked hoping to clear the tension that was building in the room.

"A clinic that's run by my friend," Ross replied. "We thought it would be better than a military hospital where they might ask questions. You two can stay here until you're better."

Ed rubbed his ribs. Kathryn didn't notice it much anymore, she only had a few fractures from Envy while a few of Ed's ribs were broken.

"Dammit. This is no time for us to be stuck in a hospital. We were so close to finding out the truth," Ed muttered.

"True that," Kathryn agreed.

Ross and Brosh glanced at each other before switching sides. They stomped their feet on the ground and stood to attention. "FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST AND SCARRED ALCHEMIST SIR! PLEASE ALLOW US TO APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE FOR OUR RUDENESS!" they both shouted.

Kathryn and Edward looked at them like they had seen ghosts. Brosh punched Edward square in the jaw while Ross slapped Kathryn across the face. "Major Armstrong told you two NOT to go on your own, disobeying a direct order. He knew it would be dangerous so he told you three to STAY PUT. And since you ignored those orders you two almost got yourselves killed. You two may be talented, but you are still children. You can't always act on your own. You two have to learn to work with others besides yourselves. It's okay to trust adults sometimes…" Ross finished.

"SIRS!" they shouted as they stood to attention once again. "Please forgive our insubordinance for speaking so rudely and raising a hand against you!" they finished.

Kathryn and Edward stared at them for a second before Kat burst out laughing.

"Kat?" Ed asked her.

"Ow, ow, ow," she said as she finished laughing, rubbing her ribs. "Oh, that hurts. But I'm sorry. I was wondering how long it took them to think of that, then practice it to get it as perfect as they just did… Ah…" she sighed.

"On a different note… We're the ones who should be sorry. So, sorry."

"And will you punish us for harming you?" Ross asked, they were both still tall, even through Kat's outburst.

"Nah, I had it coming…" Ed replied.

They relaxed the tiniest bit, the real punishment they were expecting coming from Kat. They eyed her, sweating considerably.

"I probably should… But I won't. Watching that was well worth it."

They both breathed enormous sighs of relief, looking like they were about to have heart attacks.

"Why are you two so polite to us?" Ed asked.

"It's because we have ranks equal to Majors. They can't disobey us or else they could be court martialed for it, or discharged," Kathryn explained.

"Well, you guys don't have to be so serious around us. I didn't take the alchemy test for the rank."

"Neither did I. I still consider myself Second Lieutenant like I was before the test. That's what I want you guys to treat me as too. The only reason I'm ever going to bring out Major Kathryn is when I have an order that MUST be obeyed. So to you guys, I'm your rank, so don't be serious."

"Really?"

"You have no idea how hard it was being so nice to someone younger than me. For you it was easy because you earned your ranking fair and square… But for him it was weird."

"So where's Al?" Ed asked, ignoring how quick they were to adapt.

"I gave him the same lecture we gave you, punched him in the face… And nearly broke my hand in the process," Brosh said shaking his hand.

"Yeah, he's got a pretty hard head… Hahaha," Ed and Kat started laughing.

"Crap… I just remembered another thing we're going to get yelled at for…" Ed said.

"What- Oh shit…" she said as she realized both of their arms were broken… "Fuck… Winry is going to kill us…" she said.

"We lived good lives…"

* * *

The phone rang four times before Winry finaly answered.

"Rockbell auto-mail shop?" she answered.

"Hey, Winry? It's me," Ed replied reluctantly.

"Ed? What's up? You never call, I wasn't expecting it."

"Yeah… Well, me and Kat were wondering if, you would, um…"

"Ed spit it out."

Kathryn yanked the receiver out of Ed's hands. "Hey Win, it's you big sister. We were calling to see if you had the time to come out and do some repairs."

"You want me to come out there? To Central?"

"Yeah… well Ed's arm isn't working for some odd reason, and my hand is broken… It's a long story. We can't leave right now so the only option is for you to come out here."

"What do you mean broken?" Winry was getting angry.

"Well, Ed can't move his arm, but his fingers are working correctly. Something went through my hand and hit the gears, I think the entire inside is fucked up."

"And how did you do that?"

"We got into a fight," she replied simply.

"WHAT! I told you two that it would break if you were too rough with it!" Winry shouted.

"Hey! I said that something stabbed my hand so that one wasn't technically my fault! I don't know what was wrong with Ed's arm. Do you know something we don't?" Kathryn asked suspiciously.

It was silent on the other end of the line. Kathryn sighed into the phone. "That's what I thought. I'll talk to you about it when you get here. I already bought your tickets. Just go to the station and pick them up," Kathryn told her.

"How'd you know I would say yes?" Winry asked.

"Because you're too proud of your work, plus you can't stand the fact that we got hurt because of it," Kathryn said harshly.

"Kat…"

"I'll see you when you get here," she cut her off. She hung up the receiver and sighed.

"What'd she say?" Ed asked.

"She's on her way over… God I hate doing that to her."

"Then don't do it."

"I have to. She won't push forward without a reason," Kathryn replied.

"So who'd you call?" Brosh asked.

Edward jumped, his side wound opening up. Kathryn rammed her elbow into Brosh's stomach, making him spit out his tea. A nurse came over and helped Edward into a wheelchair.

"So who did you call?" Brosh asked as he wheeled Ed down the hallway with Kathryn hobbling along on her crutches. They insisted she use them until her leg was healed.

"It was our mechanic," Kat replied.

"Oh? Your mechanic, huh Ed?"

"What's that supposed to mean! All she is is my mechanic!" Ed shouted, getting red.

"That's all? How boring. Don't you have a girlfriend?"

"Well, yes. But my love life is none of your concern!" Ed stammered. Kathryn chuckled at how he was stumbling.

"Is she cute?"

"Gorgeous," Ed replied, smiling at Kat. "She's smart, funny, incredibly stubborn-

"Have you shagged her yet?"

"ACK! BROSH! THAT DOESN'T CONCERN YOU!"

"He has," Kathryn replied.

"Oh? You know who it is?" Brosh inquired.

"It's our mechanic's sister. Winry brings her sister everywhere so you'll see her when she comes to fix us up."

"You can't give me a hint?"

"Nope."

"Aww! Come on! Just a little one?"

"Al?"

Brosh stopped the chair at a hallway where Alphonse was sitting by himself. "Hey Alphonse! What are you doing there by yourself? Come back to the room," Ed called out to his brother. "You okay?"

"Yeah… It's nothing. Go back to the room, I'll be in shortly," Al replied.

Kathryn was doubtful that everything was all right. "You sure? We can wait."

"Yeah, go on ahead."

"Alright then…" she said as she started back to the room. Brosh followed with Ed.

Alphonse stood from his seat and walked over to the mirror. "Could my memories really be fake?" he whispered. He placed his hand on the mirror.

"Just accept it, you'll feel better that way."

Kathryn heard the mirror crack from two hallways down.


	22. Chapter 22

**AHHHHHH IDONTGIVEAFLYINGFUCK YOU'RE POSTING ON TIME FOR ONCE!**

**Yes, it is true. I am. SO PROUD!**

**For those of you who are waiting for the Halloween stories, they shall be out soon. There will be a Kathryn/Mustang one, because I'm awesome and my good friend Alanna is asking for it. MUAHAHAHAAHAHA! The second is going to be an Edward/Winry. YAY!**

**So those should be out.**

**As some of you know, my birthday was last month. My entire wish list... FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST OF COURSE! I asked for everything practically and I ****should be receiving for the next couple of years for Christmas and my birthday! YAY! And my dad finally got me my present and we got the first nine volumes! SO FUCKING HAPPY! I've already read them and re-read them about seven times and cried fifteen... Grrrrr.**

**Also, I know that they went to E****licia's birthday party, and I think my thought process was that there would be at least a years difference between the meetings... Nope. So we are going to pretend that it was either a random party or a half birthday party because Hughes likes to spoil his daughter a lot... Kay?**

**And finally, I have officially just post**

**ed everything I have written... SON OF A BITCH! Now I have to write a lot to catch up... NO HOMEWORK FOR ME!**

**I'm going to shut the fuck up now so you can read...**

**BYEEEEEEEEEEEE!**

* * *

Winry hopped off the train, rubbing her butt with the hand that wasn't holding her toolbox over her shoulder. "Owww… I can understand how Al does it… But how can Kathryn and Edward sit on those trains for so long?" Winry asked herself.

She looked around the busy train station. "There sure are a lot of people in here… I can't imagine what Central looks like outside of here…" She looked around the station, trying her best not to bump into anyone. "When I called back, Kathryn said that she sent someone to pick me- Oh… She sent him," she said when she spotted Major Armstrong gazing through the crowd.

"Oh! There you are Miss Rockbell!" he called when he spotted her. "Again… I wish to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help in Resembool."

"No need… I thank you for taking care of the idiotic Elric brothers and my sister," she replied.

She put on her jacket as the exited the station, the air a bit too chilly for her simple tank top and skirt. Armstrong insisted he carried her tools as they walked down the crowded streets of Central city.

"I can't believe Kathryn and Edward… She practically dragged me out here by the ear and they didn't even pick me up themselves," Winry complained.

"Well, considering the current condition of the two, it can't be helped," Armstrong replied in their defense.

"I don't even know what that means… All Kat said was that they were in a big fight and that their auto-mail isn't working. Why can't they go anywhere?"

"They aren't fit to be moblie…" Armstrong said.

"What, did they get themselves thrown into a mental institution? You know I sensed something off about Kat the last time she was over… I didn't think it would send her to the looneybin though…"

"That's not what I mean by aren't fit… They are mentally stable… But they aren't physically stable… The injuries the received were severe, and they were sent to a hospital."

"A HOSPITAL?!"

"OH MY GOD!" Winry shouted as she entered the room.

Ross and Brosh stood by, Alphonse sat on the floor. Kathryn was on the far side of the room with bandages covering everything but her arm and face, a few patches her and there covering small cuts on her face. Edward's entire body, head to toe, was covered in bandages except for his arm and leg.

"I didn't think it was this bad!"

"It wasn't," Kathryn replied. "The Major found out that we were in the hospital and squeezed us," she said as she undid her bandages. "You re-cracked my ribs… Very painful. I don't know why I don't just wol-

She stopped because she realised Winry was in the room. "Nevermind that. It's good to see you again," she said as she walked over and hugged her sister with her good arm.

"Wait wait wait… You are the mechanic's sister?" Brosh asked.

"Yeah… We're twins," Kathryn said turning to him.

He went green and opened the window, puking on the grass.

Kathryn smiled with a shake of her head and helped Ed out of his bandages. "And now thanks to you, Major, we are in here even longer. I'm getting irritated of the hospital atmosphere…"

Winry sighed. "But even without the Major's wounds, you two are still really beaten up."

"Yeah… well these wounds heal up fast," Ed replied.

"Speak for yourself! I got a hunk of my leg cut out! I'm not supposed to walk for another week!" Kathryn shouted at him. "And- Winry? You okay?"

"It's my fault you're here. It's my job to make sure your auto-mail is working, to be thorough and check everything…"

They were silent for a minute.

"It- it's not your fault Winry!" Ed shouted.

"Ed. Knock it off. We both know that it was her fault."

Winry looked at her sister with tears in her eyes.

"Kathryn!" Al shouted.

Winry turned to leave the room, but Kathryn grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. "But it's also our fault. The relationship between mechanic and customer is a fragile thing. If you push to hard, the balance breaks. We asked too much of you, Winry. One adjustment and two brand new auto-mail arms is too much for anyone to ask be done within a week," she said. She reached forward and dug into Winry's skirt pocket.

"What are you doing?" Winry shouted, trying to pull away.

Kathryn pulled out a screw. "A-08. If I remember, the placement of this screw is in the shoulder. You pulled five all-nighters just to get us our auto-mail and forgot a key screw in the process. Yes, Ed didn't get beat up because he couldn't start another fight, but had he been in the middle of one, he would have either lost his other arm to defend himself or he would have died because he couldn't.

"Winry. It's your job to make the auto-mail, but it is our job as customers to make sure you do it right, and make sure you're still healthy and right in the head when you do it. So we don't blame you. We blame ourselves for pushing you past your extremes."

Winry let loose a few tears and flung herself at her sister. She gripped Kathryn tight, ignoring the small growl of pain coming from her sister. "I'm sorry Kathryn."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. But if you still feel guilty, you can fix our auto-mail for the standard fee instead of adding travel charges," she replied as she hugged her back.

Ed looked at her suspiciously. She didn't plan that from the beginning… did she? Because that is horrible! Genius, but horrible!

Winry pulled back with a sniffle and wiped her eyes. "Okay then. Shall I start with your hand?" she asked with a renewed vigor.

Kathryn smiled. "As long as you don't get mad," she said as she lifted her arm. The tip of her ring finger was missing, and a large hole was in the middle of the palm going through the back of it.

"KATHRYN WHAT DID YOU DO TO IT THIS TIME!"

"Hey, I thought we agreed you wouldn't get mad," she replied.

"Now, now. You two don't need to get worked up. You won't be able to leave the hospital. You need to take it easy. And you need plenty of nutritious food and rest," Armstrong said from the sidelines.

Kathryn and Winry looked to Ed's food cart at this moment. "You didn't drink your milk…" they said in unison, same tone, nearly same voice. It gave everyone in the room chills.

They looked to Ed, who had turned his gaze away from them and was sweating under their gazes. "I hate milk," he muttered.

"YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO GET TALLER! YOU'RE GOING TO BE THE SIZE OF A PEA!" Winry shouted.

"I'M NOT GOING TO DRINK SOME WHITE OPAQUE LIQUID SECRETED BY COWS!"

"You're just being stubborn Edward Elric! In order to gain stamina you must have nutrients!"

"I'LL GET NUTRIENTS SOME OTHER WAY BESIDES MILK!"

"And you wonder why you never get any taller!" Kathryn shouted. "Seriously, do you want to be shorter than your girlfriend for the rest of your life?"

"Well… Considering your hight and my hight, I'm at a pretty good spot right now," he replied with a glance at her boobs.

Kathryn growled. She held out her hand to her sister. "Since I don't have my boots with me, I don't have my weapons… Wrench me."

Winry dug trough her toolbox and gave her sister a wrench. "Kathryn… You don't want to do this… I was joking," Ed pleaded as she inched closer to the bed.

She flipped the wrench once in her hand before slamming it across is face, then bringing it back and smashing it on the top of his head. She then jumped on the bed and began to choke him and wring his neck. It wasn't until she heard the door click that they noticed that Alphonse had stood from his seat and left the room.

"What do you think it up with him?" Ed rasped low enough for Kathryn to hear him. She simply shrugged.

"So no luck with the stone then?" Winry asked. She sat on the side on Ed's bed fixing his arm while Kathryn flexed her fixed hand.

"Nope. We're stuck like this for a while yet," Kathryn replied.

"Al's gonna have to stay the way he is too… He's been acting weird lately…" Ed said. Kathryn scoffed at this. "Yes, I know that we are anything but weird, but that's normally you and me… Something's off with Al. Which is not normal."

"I've noticed it… He's keeping to himself. Something must be off if you don't know."

"I think he's love sick," Brosh said.

"Don't compare him to yourself, you love obsessed freak," Kathryn and Ed said together.

Brosh went to a state of gloom on the floor.

"All done!" Winry said as she started to pack her stuff.

"AH! Much better!" Ed exclaimed as he moved his arm around.

"Ed, incoming," Kathryn said a moment before Hughes burst through the door.

"YO! Ed my boy, I heard you snuck a girl into your room!"

"Hughes, I was put in this room. He didn't have to sneak me in here," Kathryn replied.

"I was talking about the other girl! And… Hey… You two look identical."

"That's because she's my twin sister," Kathryn replied.

"Ed… How'd you do it? Two girls at once is hard enough… But sisters? I applaud you…" Hughes said with a slow clap.

"HUGHES! GOD DAMMIT I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!"

"Hahaha! So this is your sister huh? I'm Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes," he said as shook her hand.

"Winry Rockbell. I'm their mechanic," she replied.

"Hughes… Isn't there a desk you should be stuck behind?" Kat asked as she rubbed her temples, fighting off the headache that appeared every time he opened his mouth.

"Nope. I've got Sheska working overtime!"

"You're cruel…" Ed said.

"True… I did come by to see how you two were doing, but I've got some good news for you two. It's about the Scar incident. You three won't need bodyguards anytime soon."

Kathryn and Edward whooped. "Please tell me you're not yanking my tail!" Kathryn asked.

"Nope."

"BODYGUARDS!? What have you two gotten yourselves into!?" Winry asked.

"I tell you, we didn't need chaperones with me around… But no one would listen! I'm glad to have these two lumps off our backs," Kathryn joked.

"Harsh!"

"What do you think would have happened had we not been around?" Ross asked.

"It was no biggy, Winry," Ed told her.

Winry put on her jacket with a huff. "You guys never tell me anything… I expect it from those guys… But you, sister dear, are getting on my nerves."

"Leaving so soon? I thought we could sit and eat crumpets while drinking tea with our pinkies out whilst reminiscing over our formative years, oh sister dear," Kathryn laughed.

"Unlike you, I have to find a place to sleep."

"If you tell them we sent you, you can sleep at a military hotel for cheap," Kathryn offered.

"Sounds too strict for my tastes."

"Why don't you stay at my house? My family would love to meet you! And my wife's cooking is the best!"

"I can't argue with that one," Kathryn said.

"Then it's settled! Let's go!" Hughes said as he grabbed her and pulled her from the room like he did Sheska.

"He looks like a kidnapper again…" Kathryn muttered.

"Um… Mr. Hughes?" Winry asked. "What's all this stuff for?" she asked from behind the large teddy bear she held.

"It's my daughter's birthday today. She's three now," he replied with a laugh.

"PAPA!" called a little girl from the steps in front of them.

"Elicia! Darling daddy missed you!"

"Kathryn. It's good to see you again. I hope you won't tear up my wall again," Mrs. Hughes laughed.

"SHE DID WHAT!?" Winry asked.

"Gracia, this is Kathryn's sister Winry. She needed a place to stay for the night. The last time they were here, Kathryn threw a wrench at me for comparing her to Colonel Mustang," Hughes explained to her while showing her where the wrench hit.

"I faintly remember a Mustang once when we were little. The reaction she had to him wasn't a good one… So I can see the anger… And she always did have a good arm, so be more carefull around her," Winry laughed. She looked down to Elicia. "How old are you today Elicia?"

"Tw-" Elicia stopped and checked herself. "Three!" she said holding up her fingers.

"HOW CUTE!" Winry and Hughes shouted.

The party was in full swing by the time Elicia finished opening her presents. Her favorite was the large bear from her father. Another of her favorites was a small, wind-up mouse with flowers painted on it. But it didn't work.

"Papa!" she cried. "The mousie you gave me isn't moving!" she said as she handed it to him.

He looked it over and scratched his head. "I wonder if it's defective?" he asked.

"Can I take a look at it?" Winry asked. He handed it over and she went to the table. She took it apart and checked everything. "Here's the problem… the gears are out of alignment…" she said as she popped them into place. She turned the wind-up three times before letting it go across the table.

The kids watched it run in circles. Elica looked at Winry with awe. "You're a toy doctor!" she said with a sparkle in her eye.

"Not quite…" Winry laughed as she took Elicia into her lap. Elicia continued to play with the small mouse.

"You're his mechanic, right?" Hughes asked.

"Yeah… Both of them. We all grew up in Resembool together, their house was right down the road.

"Well, knowing those three, I bet they were a handful," he laughed.

"Well, Kathryn is my sister, so I had to deal with her. She was always energetic, even after our parents died. She was my role model growing up because she was there for everyone, she always did what was best, and she never looked sad. She always stayed happy for me. And then Ed and Al were all over the place. They weren't trouble so much as easy-going, but that sometimes got them in trouble like they do now, so they made me worry a lot. They still do.

"And when I came out here today… their arms were a wreck and they both had sever injuries. I'm not sure how well Kat's going to walk after this… I didn't know because they never tell me anything. Kathryn used to call all the time, but now she keeps distancing herself from everything… It makes me wonder what they are doing and what kind of lives they lead…

"Kathryn didn't tell me when she left to be in the military. She didn't even seem different that night. And Ed and Al didn't tell me when they left either. Kathryn left again a bit after that, and I didn't see them until a few months ago when I had to make Kathryn an arm and give her auto-mail, two weeks when they came back with both of their arms destroyed beyond repair. I wish they would tell me what's going on…" Winry explained, her voice cracking with every sentence.

"They don't think there is any need to tell you," Hughes told her. "They think that you will understand even if they don't tell you."

"But sometimes I need them to tell me things in order to understand," she replied.

"That's the way it is, though. Men express their emotions through actions rather than words. And Kathryn has been around men so much that she acts like one, but it started when she hid her emotions to make you feel better. They would rather carry the pain and burdens by themselves than make their loved ones worry. That's why none of them will say anything.

"And granted, Edward and Alphonse have Kathryn, but if Kathryn breaks, or they feel like they are putting too much on her, they will come to you, and that's when they will need you the most. Isn't it enough knowing that you'll be needed?"

Before Winry could answer, a few little boys came running up.

"Elicia! Come play with me!" one said as she slid out of Winry's lap.

"No Elicia's gonna play with me!" another said, tugging on Elicia's hand.

"She sure is popular," Winry said with a smile.

Hughes stood from his chair, pushed his glasses up his nose, pulled out his gun and cocked it. "Watch it you little punks… Don't even think about touching my daughter."

"THERE'S SUCH A THING AS BEING OVER PROTECTIVE MR. HUGHES!" Winry shouted.

* * *

The next morning they stood outside the house saying goodbye.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay? You're welcome here as long as you like," Gracia said.

Winry shook her head. "Thank you, but you've already done enough for me. I can find my own lodgings for tonight."

Elicia grabbed Winry's jacket and tugged the sleeve.

"She really likes you…" Gracia said.

"You two could almost be sisters! HAHAHA! Wait… If you two were sisters, that means she and Kathryn would be sisters… That's not good…"

"Maes! Kathryn is a perfectly fine girl, and she would make a wonderful sister!"

"She's right. Kathryn was a great sister," Winry replied.

Elicia tugged on her sleeve again. "See you later. Come home soon, 'kay?" she asked.

"Looks like you've found your lodgings for the night," Gracia said with a smile.

Winry bent down to Elicia's level. "You know, Kathryn was always the older one, and I always felt kinda left out. I've always wanted a younger sister," she pulled her into a hug, "and now it looks like I can have one!"

* * *

Edward sat on his bed staring at his milk. "You again… How did you get in here, you bastard?"

Kathryn looked up from her alchemy book. "Oh just drink your damn milk, you baby."

"No! I'm not going to drink it and that's final!"

Kathryn sighed, closed her book and walked over to him. "Fine, I'll just drink it. Don't blame me when I get a lot taller than you and have to take care of you because you can't handle anything anymore, you shrimp," she said as she chugged the bottle.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A HALF-PINT-BEAN-SPROUT-MIDGET!?" Ed shouted at her, fuming and glaring.

She wiped the milk from her lips with her sleeve. "I never said that."

"I don't understand what the big deal about milk is anyway. Al, I would have you drink it if you could…"

"Brother, you need to drink your milk. You need to strengthen yourself."

"I'm not going to drink what I don't like. Besides, it won't kill me to not drink it."

"Well, let's put it this way. If you don't drink milk, you don't get calcium. No calcium, no strong bones. No strong bones, no way to defend yourself in a fight. No fighting back? Dead. Get the picture?" she said, poking him with every sentence.

He rubbed his chest. "Yeah yeah yeah… But everyone says I need to drink it so I can grow. But if you haven't noticed, I am growing!"

"Yes, Ed, I've seen you grow…" Kathryn said with a smile.

Edward blushed madly and cleared his throat. "Yes, and everyone keeps calling me small!"

"Edward, you're not small, you're just the right size. I think if you were any bigger it would hurt."

"KATHRYN! MY LITTLE BROTHER IS RIGHT HERE!"

She chuckled. "Your point? He knows about us, and when he gets his body back, he's going to need to know these things if he ever wants a lasting relationship."

"Oh my God, Kathryn, please just shut up. You know, Al, you're lucky you've got a big body. You don't have to put up with this."

"Oh, I'm sure that I could find a way-

Kathryn was cut off by Al's growling. He stood abruptly from his seat, fists clenched. Winry walked through the door.

"I never asked for this damn body!" he shouted.

* * *

**THE FUCKING DRAMA ALPACHAS ARE BACK!**


	23. Chapter 23

**I'M SOOOOO SORRY DON'T HATE ME!**

**I FINALLY GOT THIS FUCKING CHAPTER OUT AND THE NEXT SHALL BE OUT TOMORROW OR I SHALL KILL MYSELF! IF IT WAS PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE I WOULD HAVE NEVER WRITTEN THE END OF THIS CHAPTER LIKE I DID BUT THE STORY DOESN'T TURN OUT HOW IT SHOULD IN THE END OTHERWISE!**

**I siriusly sat for four fucking hours trying to think of how I could do it differently... Alas, there wasn't one... I would tell you to skip it if it wasn't fucking important.**

**I RECOMMEND! READ THIS BITCHES OR DIE!: I recommend some popcorn or lotsa comfort food or something cause I cried writing this, i cried reading this, I fucking cried watching this twice. I've cried everytime it's mentioned and I'm dying a little inside because I'm making you go through this again...**

**On a sorta brighter note, I found a video on Youtube called Hide and Seek Fullmetal Alchemist. It's fucking amazing. It's the one in caps. I don't recommend it during the end of the chapter or you will cry for sure...**

**Without further interruption... I present this fucking depressing chapter...**

* * *

Al's words hung in the room and rang in their ears. Kathryn, Edward, and Winry all stared at him.

"I never asked for this damn body…" he repeated. His fists were clenched and if it could, his body would have been shaking with anger.

"I-I'm sorry Al… You're right," Edward said. He looked at his hands folded on the tray of food. "It's my fault that all of this happened. That's why I want to get you back to normal as soon as possible."

"Is there really and guarantee that we will ever get our original bodies back?" Al spat.

"Of course there is Al!" Kathryn shouted.

"Al, you just have to believe me when I say I _will _get your body back," Edward reassured him.

"Believe you?" Al laughed. "What am I supposed to believe in this empty shell of a body? According to Alchemic theory, human beings are composed of a _physical body_, mind and soul. But has anyone verified that in an experiment?"

Everyone listened quietly. Maria and Denny looked confused, wondering what Al was talking about when he said physical body, mind and soul.

"If you think about it, memories are nothing but data. It should be possible to artificially construct them."

"Alphonse, you're not making any sense!" Kathryn said. She tried to keep up with what he was talking about, but lost herself in the words.

"Al, what are you saying…" Edward asked.

"You once told me that there was something you needed to tell me… Something you were too scared to say. Is it possible that you wanted to tell me that my soul and memories are all _fake_? That they were _artificially_ created?"

Everyone's' eyes widened in horror of Al's words. Kathryn was close to tearing Al apart piece by piece.

"Well, _big brother_? Can you really prove that the boy Alphonse Elric existed?"

"Of course we can! We all know you from Resembool! We have pictures of us growing up as kids!"

"That could have been any random kid you pulled off the street! It's possible that everyone we know has been lying to me to keep this charade going! What do you have to say to that, _big brother?_"

Edward slammed his fists down on his tray. The fork clattered to the ground and the milk bottle shattered on contact as it fell from the tray. "You kept that bottle up this whole time? That's what you wanted to tell me?" He sighed and gave a sad smile to himself.

He stood from the bed and walked out of the room without another word.

"Ed! Come back! Edward!" Kathryn called after him.

She and Winry looked at each other. "You're not going after him?" Winry asked.

"I have something to take care of first… You've got two right?"

"Always."

"Can I have the bigger one?"

"Go ahead."

They reached to the ground and each picked something up.

"YOU IDIOT!" the both screamed as they turned around, reared back, and hit Alphonse over the head with a wrench.

"Winry! K-Kathryn!"

Winry let loose a few tears before she hit him again. "ALPHONSE ELRIC YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT!" she screamed. "You don't know anything! The thing Ed was too scared to tell you? He wanted to ask you if you blamed him or not for what happened! He would cry himself from fever and the pain from his auto-mail surgery!" she said hitting him again.

Kathryn was silent, but furious. She never knew this. She hit Alphonse again, now extremely pissed that Alphonse had said that. "What idiot would risk his own life to make a fake younger brother!" she asked him, hitting him again.

"ALL YOU TWO HAVE IS EACH OTHER!" they shouted at him.

Kathryn huffed. "I may be there with you all the time, and I may be his girlfriend, and I may love him, but that can't replace," she raised the wrench one last time, "family!" She looked at him as she was about to bring it down on his head. Winry was pathetically banging him with hers form the floor. She shook her head and threw the wrench at the window, shattering the glass and sending it flying.

Kathryn glared at him. "That is going to be your head it you don't get your ass out that door and find him! And if he doesn't toss you off the roof, know that I will!" Kathryn shouted as she pointed at the door.

Al stood up and walked out the door.

"What are you doing! Run you idiot!" Winry shouted at him.

"Yes ma'am!" he shouted as he sprinted down the hallway.

Kathryn looked at the window. "We can say it was a burglar…"

Winry wiped the tears from her face and chuckled. "What about my wrench?"

"I'll buy you a new one…" Winry looked at her doubtfully. "What! Now that I'm a state alchemist, I'm rollin' in the dough!" she replied.

"Come on, we better make sure Edward doesn't kill him…"

"Yeah, I don't think we want him to go back for Al's soul a second time…" Kat laughed as they walked down the hallway.

* * *

Alphonse found Ed on the roof.

"Ed…"

"You know, Al… My body feels kinda out of shape since we haven't sparred in a while…" he said, kicking off his hospital slippers.

"What are you talking about, your wounds haven't even healed yet!"

This didn't matter. Edward already sent a kick to his brother. Al barely moved out of the way. He turned around and tried to hit him with his arm. Al blocked it and he jumped back to the towels hanging on the clothes line. He reached back, grabbed one, and threw it over Al's head before kicking his chest and sending him flying.

Al pulled the sheet off his head and looked up at Ed who was huffing and puffing.

"I win," he stated. He turned around and sat down, the laid back on the rooftop. "That's the first time I ever beat you, Al."

"You cheated!"

"Shut up, a win is a win!"

"I guess you're on the same level as Kathryn now, huh?"

"Yeah, well I think it's impossible to cheat with Kathryn, she's got that extra sense thing so even if I did throw a sheet on her she would still win…" he laughed. Ed heaved a sigh. "We sure have gotten in a lot of fights over the years… And now that I think about it, it was always something stupid…"

"Like who got the top bunk," Al responded.

"I lost that one…"

"And we fought over snacks a lot too."

"I don't remember winning any of those either."

"We fought at Teacher's house during our training."

"Now that one was a draw because she told us to shut up then proceeded to almost kill us both."

"And that time I drew in your alchemy book?"

"Oh, I _definitely _won that one."

"We also fought over who would marry Winry… Then we fought over who would marry Kathryn because we both got shot down."

"I don't remember that!"

"You don't remember Kathryn trying to kill us by drowning us in the river?"

"I remember that part…" Ed said with a shudder. "Do you really think all of those memories are fake?"

"Sorry…"

"In East City, you said you would do anything to get your body back… Are you telling me that was fake too?"

"No, that wasn't fake."

"That's right. We decided that the two of us, now three, would get our bodies back no matter what. We can't doubt ourselves because of something so trivial. I'm going to get better at fighting, and make myself stronger on the inside too. I'll even drink milk… if I can…"

"Just get Kathryn to threaten something very painful if you don't drink it… That normally works…"

"Haha… So let's do it. Let's get stronger," he said as they fist-bump promised.

"Mr. Hughes?" Winry said from their place at the door. "I guess there are some things that need to be said out loud to understand."

Kathryn shook her head at their conversation because she had no clue, and at Ed who was holding his back like an old man. She smiled and ran out to them and helped Ed to the door. She kicked Al over the railing.

"Kathryn! What was that for!" he shouted from the alley.

"I told you that if Edward didn't throw you off the roof that I would!" she shouted back as they walked across the roof.

Hughes smiled. "I guess you're right."

* * *

"I don't remember anything after this guy kicked me," Edward said as he pointed to a crude drawing of Envy.

"Edward… You suck at drawing," Kathryn said as she drew on a piece of paper. "This is more what he looks like. Thank you wolfy for your hyper memory…" she said as she drew another picture. "And this was the woman. I think they called themselves Lust and Envy…"

"Way to go super wolf memory…"

"Shut up… It's more than you can do. Now, after they kicked Ed, I tried to kill them… Didn't go too well. I tried to wolf but they knew about that, then Lust broke my hand. Her fingers were sharper than a blade. Then Envy came over and kicked me, then stomped on my back. Lust said to remember that they let us live… Then I blacked out."

"This goes in so far… there are too many things to look into. It seems like it's too much to say it was an experiment for the Philosopher's Stone. We might be able to find something in criminal investigations…" Hughes said.

"I'll see if I can track down anyone who helped Dr. Marcoh in his research," Armstrong offered.

"Can I see that list?" Kat asked the Major. He handed her the list, she looked it over, she shook her head and handed it back to him. "No help. They're all dead. I recognize those names from obituaries and case files. There's no one to talk to."

The three shared a look.

Kathryn sighed. "Hughes, Armstrong, you can't continue to help us. This has gotten way too dangerous. People are dying, ending up in hospitals, losing so much."

"Kathryn, that happens every day. That's life."

"Yeah, well it happens more and more with the progression of our findings on the Philosopher's Stone. You both have families. Hughes, you have a daughter and wife to go home to. Armstrong, you have a chance to find happiness."

"Kathryn, so do you."

"I am happy. And if I die, it will be because of my cause. You two are just helping, you shouldn't be involved. I don't want you two involved in this matter anymore."

"Kathryn's right. You can't die because of us. If you're still stubborn, think of the emotional damage it will do to Kathryn," Edward said.

"Wait, what?"

"The poor girl has been through so much trauma already, are you really willing to put her through another death?"

"Way to throw me under the bus…" she replied. She turned to the door and stiffened. "Winry's coming. Hide the stuff and don't say anything about what we just talked about. Oh god, I sound like a drug dealer…"

They just finished hiding everything when Winry walked through the door.

"Hey, I got the train tickets you asked for," she said.

"Train tickets? Can't you stay in one place? Your wounds haven't healed, and Kathryn, can you even walk?" Armstrong asked.

"I can walk. And if I can't I'll use a crutch or something. I can't stand the hospital atmosphere anymore. I'm starting to smell like disinfectant. And we wouldn't have any injuries to worry about if you didn't crush us!"

"You're going to bring that up again?"

"Where you going? Dublith?" Hughes asked looking at the train tickets.

"Where's that?" Winry asked.

"It's kind of in the middle of South Amestris," Al said pulling out a map and pointing to the area labeled Dublith.

"WHAAA!" Winry screeched.

Kat looked at the map. "Oh no."

"Look at the stop before Dublith!"

"Don't do it…"

"Rush Valley? What's there?" Al asked.

"Now you've done it… Here we go…"

"Rush Valley! The auto-mail engineers' Mecca! Oh, they have every auto-mail style and every new piece of equipment! They have all the tools and blablablablablablablablablab lablablabla!" she continued.

"Sorry I asked…" Al whispered to Kathryn.

"I've always wanted to go there! TAKE ME TAKE ME TAKE ME TAKE ME!"

"Go there yourself!" Edward said.

"Who's gonna pay for my travel expenses?"

"Didn't I just pay you for fixing us up? Or do you plan on saving that for yourself and mooching off your big sister for the rest of your life?" Kathryn asked.

"It's on the way, there's no reason why we can't go," Al said.

Kathryn and Edward looked at each other then sighed in defeat. "Fine…" they muttered.

"YIP-PEE!" she shouted as she headed to the door. "I'm gonna go call Granny and tell her that I won't be back soon."

"She sure is energetic…" Al said.

"She would make a great wife, not as great as mine though…" Hughes said.

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN? AND QUIT BRAGGING!" Ed and Kat shouted.

* * *

They boarded the train and sat in their seats.

"So I finally get to meet the famous Teacher…" Kathryn said out loud as she wave to everyone on the platform who showed up for goodbye. Armstrong was a blubbering baby as usual.

"Wait, is that why we're going to Dublith?" Winry asked.

"Yeah. Ed and I agreed that we should go visit our teacher," Al replied.

"We're gonna get killed for sure…"

"Killed? What kind of person is your teacher?"

"I haven't even met the person yet I'm terrified."

"Ed, I'm scared."

"JUST DEAL WITH IT!"

* * *

"Riots in Liore?" Hughes asked.

"Yup. There was some kind of cult. They were exposed as frauds and the people turned against them. I heard they have it under control now, though."

"Look at the death toll…"

"The East Area's been hit a lot recently, what with the Ishbalans and these riots. And the North and West Areas have been having their share of riots and border skirmishes. Who knows, it could be the start of the revolution? Haha."

Hughes stood from the table and and started out the door. "I'm going to the records room to check on something."

He looked through different books and put it on a map. Once he was done, he was shell-shocked. "I need to warn them about this…"

The door opened and clicked shut.

"Pleased to meet you, or should I say, goodbye?" the woman said.

Hughes looked at her and recognized her instantly. "Kathryn's drawing did you no justice, Lust. Nice tattoo you've got there," he said, referring to the ouroboros tattoo on her collar-bone.

"You know too much, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes," she said as her fingers turned to blades.

He reached behind him to his knife pocket and grabbed his throwing knife. He threw it as her blade went through his shoulder.

He fell out of the room, clutching his shoulder. "Dammit," he cursed as he held himself against the wall.

He made his way down the hallway to the calling room.

"You took the words right out of my mouth…" Lust said as she removed the knife from her forehead. "I thought you were the deskwork type… Looks like that arm is good for more than pushing papers…"

Hughes made it to the phones.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes… Bragging about you family on the phone again?" the woman behind the desk asked. "You're bleeding!" she said as he passed her.

"It's nothing, I need to use the phone." He picked up the phone, paused, and set it back down on the receiver. "Sorry about that, carry on," he said as he rushed out of the room.

He stood in a phone booth outside H.Q.

"Hello, East City Headquarters," the operator said.

"Get me Colonel Mustang," Hughes shouted urgently.

"I'm sorry, but we can't connect calls from an outside line…"

"I'm only using an outside line because it's an emergency! This is Lieutenant Colonel Hughes from Central!"

"May I have the code please?"

"You're kidding me!" he shouted as he pulled out his pocket book. His favorite photo of his family fell out of the back as he flipped to the page with the number on it. "Uncle-sugar-oliver-eight-zero-zero," he recited.

"I've verified the code, please wait while I connect you to Colonel Mustang."

"Hurry up, the military is in grave danger!"

A crunch of footsteps came from behind him. "Please hang up the phone Lieutenant Colonel Hughes."

He stiffened at the recognition of the voice. He turned around partially to see Maria Ross looking back at him with a gun pointed at his back.

"The phone, hang it up now."

"Second Lieutenant Ross?" he asked, very confused. He shook his head. "No, you're not her, who are you?"

"I'm Second Lieutenant Ross, I've met you several times at the hospital-

"You're not her. Maria Ross has a mole under her left eye."

She paused before giving him a vicious smile. "Is that so? How forgetful of me…" She lifted her hand to her face and he watched with wide eyes as a mole appeared out of nowhere under her eye. "Is that better?"

"What the… What the hell is going on? Dammit… I must be dreaming," he said as he turned around and leaned on the phone. "This has got to be a dream…"

"A dream? This is about to become your worst nightmare. Your quick wits have gotten you into a lot of trouble this time, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes," she said with a glance down at the picture he dropped.

"Hey, hey, gimme a break. I've got a wife and kid at home…" he said as he dropped his knife out of his sleeve into his hand. "I can't afford to die yet!" he said as he turned to strike.

He stopped when he looked into the face of Gracia. "You wouldn't stab your own wife, would you, Maes?" she asked with a smile. "Pretty good acting, huh… Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?" she said with a malicious smile.

* * *

Colonel Mustang answered his ringing phone.

"There's a call for you on the outside from a Lieutenant Colonel Hughes," the operator said.

"Again? Put him through," he sighed. "It's me. Hughes, I don't want to hear any more about your family." He didn't hear anything else from the other line. "Hughes?" he asked, beginning to panic. "Hughes? Hughes! HUGHES!" he shouted.

Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes, twenty-nine years old, died of a gunshot wound to the heart in the telephone booth trying to contact Roy Mustang.

* * *

"So what made you decide to go to your teacher's all of a sudden?" Winry asked.

"Well, we need to get stronger… We've been losing a lot of fights lately."

"You mean, you need to get stronger. You keep losing so I have to protect you so I lose," Kathryn said from her place under his arm.

"Har har… We want to ask our teacher about transmuting human beings. The entire time we trained, she never said anything about transmutation or the Philosopher's Stone."

"And it seems that the closer we get, the more dangerous it gets…"

"We thought we would ask Teacher directly if there is a way to get our bodies back," Al spoke up. "And I'm sure Ed wants Teacher to meet Kathryn…" If he could have, he would have said that with a sly smile.

"Al! We might get killed!"

"Get killed…" they muttered.

"We lived pretty short lives, huh Al?"

"I wish I could have at least gotten myself a girlfriend…"

"Winry's right here, have her be your girlfriend for a day or something," Kathryn laughed.

"Oh… To cheer you up. I have pie," Winry said as she pulled a box out of her bag.

"Oooooo… Apple piee…." Kathryn drooled.

"Where'd you get it?" Ed asked as he served up the slices.

"Gracia gave it to me for us to eat on the train," she said taking a bite.

"Oh my god this it fucking amazing…" Kathryn said as she ate it in two big bites.

"Big mouth…" Ed muttered.

"My mouth has to be big or else you can't-

"Alphonse!" Winry interrupted, not wanting to hear what of Ed's she could fit in her mouth, though she was she knew what she was going to say. "Gracia taught me the recipe when I was there so I'll make you one when you get your body back."

"Woo Hoo!"

"I met his family when I stayed with them. They are so nice."

"Hughes? Nice? More like smothery. I never asked "Super dad" to follow me everywhere like a lost puppy. Sorry," he said with a glance at Kathryn.

Al interrupted before Winry could ask about the puppy bit. "He would come to your room everyday when you were in the hospital just to say hi and chat. Be nice," he scolded his older brother.

"He would always say how busy things were at work, yet he came to see us every day in the hospital…"

"I feel kinda bad for Sheska now. Who knows what he piled on her desk when he came to see us?" Kathryn laughed.

Edward chuckled with her. "Yeah... Well, we'll have to do something nice for him next time we're in Central."

Little did they know that there would be no 'next time'. Hughes' funeral procession was a day later.


	24. Chapter 24

**OMG I'M POSTING! IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!**

**But siriusly, I'm so proud of myself and so sorry. Shit has been hectic lately with school and everything. I'm so sorry.**

**I will have the next chapter out hopefully by next Sunday and then over my winter break I should be able to publish at least two more chapters to catch myself back up to normal posting.**

**I love you all so much and hope you still love me and love my writing!**

**If any of you want to follow me on Tumblr because I'm fucking amazing, my url is iamkathrynrockbell because, you know...**

**So yup. and if you guys liked my Roy/Kathryn (Possibly Katoy (like cat toy)) I will have another one up soon. It's pretty amazing, I will admit it.**

**I'm gonna go a let you all do what you have been waiting for ever to do. READ MOTHERFUCKERS!**

**I'm kidding you don't shag moms I love you.**

* * *

"OOOO! It's so pretty!" Winry and Kathryn squealed as they looked trough a shop window.

"Can it be? No… It can't!" Winry squealed.

"It can!" Kathryn said as she looked at her sister. "The 11th generation model from Gods Studio. I never thought we would see it!"

They squealed again.

Kathryn looked over her shoulder and glared at Edward. "What? Just because I'm not a mechanic doesn't mean I'm not into auto-mail…"

Edward sulked. "I didn't say anything…" he muttered.

They continued down the street as the two Rockbells explained to the two Elrics about Rush Valley.

"After the Ishbalan Civil War, the prosthetics industry exploded. People lost a lot of limbs and needed replacements. Rush Valley is also known as the boomtown of the broken down," Kathryn said as they walked past several shops.

"It's also the Auto-mail Engineer's Mecca," added Winry.

"I can see why. There's auto-mail everywhere," Ed said as he looked at all the people with metal arms and legs.

"As long as there is war in this country, auto-mail will always be in need. And as much as I love auto-mail, I hope there's a day when the industry won't be so prosperous."

"And as much as I've always wanted to come here, and as much as I love my auto-mail, I wish they weren't here together like they are now… I can sense the hyenas in the shadows," Kathryn said, referring to the people in the shops eyeing hers and Edward's auto-mail. They had taken their jackets off during the train ride due to the increasing temperatures of the south.

Cheers, crashes and shouts could be heard from farther ahead where a crowd was gathered. They managed their way to the front where a table sat with a big brute behind it in a chair and a man in shorts and flower print stood shouting.

"51 consecutive wins! Anyone up from some machine arm wrestling?" he shouted. "All auto-mail users, lookin for some cash? 10,000 sens to enter and you could go home with a mountain of money if you beat the champ!" he announced.

A large man made his way to the front of the crowd. "Let me through, I'll do it. I just got this new auto-mail today and I've been dying to test it out," he said as he sat down in the chair across from the other man with the two auto-mail arms.

"Looks like we've got a real fighter on our hands. Contestants, are you ready?" the announcer said.

"Fight!" he shouted, and not even two seconds later, the man's arm was reduced to a pile of metal.

"Did you say it was brand new?" the man with two arms asked. "My bad… Lemme put this where it belongs, with the rest of the scrap," he said as he tossed it over his shoulder into a pile of arms.

A pile of engineers crowded around him. "Broken arm?" "Need a fix?" "I'll give you a great deal!" "I'll fix it if you come to my shop!" they said as they carried his off.

"I'm still making payments on this one! Help!"

"At least let me give you an estimate!" "If you can't pay out-of-pocket you can work it off!" "Monthly instalments are okay too!"

"They really are like hyenas…" Edward muttered.

"So, who's next? You sir, in the armor! You look like a strapping fellow!" the announcer said to Alphonse.

"Me? No, no. I don't want to," Alphonse said as he shook his hands.

"Oh what about you young man?" he asked Edward. "Oh, what am I thinking? A sprout like you could never win in this competition. Your girlfriend would have a better chance winning…" He slithered up to Kathryn. "How about you ditch the shrimp and go out with me for dinner?" he asked as he waggled his eyebrows.

She smiled at him before socking him right in the nose. "How about you drop dead. Edward," she said as she grabbed his arm. "Don't disappoint." She whispered something in his ear before pushing him to the table.

He slammed his money on the table and fumed.

"Little guy's serious!" the announcer said as he held an ice pack to his gushing nose.

Ed sat in the chair with his elbows on his knees while he calmed himself down.

"Edward! You can't be serious! When you break your auto-mail, I won't fix it!"

Alphonse looked at Kat. "Uhh… Kathryn-

"Hush," she shushed. She stood with her arms crossed and a smirk on her lips. "Winry, if he doesn't win he's got more than his auto-mail to worry about. My pride is on the line and he should start running now if he doesn't plan on winning."

The spectators laughed at Ed. "What a joke. There's too much difference in reach and power. He's gonna get his entire shoulder taken off."

"Engineers stand by!" a 'hyena' shouted raising his wrench.

Ed grabbed the man's hand and held it tight. He gripped the side of the table with his other.

"Ready?" the announcer said. "Fight!"

Edward slammed the mans arm down into the table, tearing it off at the shoulder. The entire crowd dropped their jaws, Alphonse just shook his head, and Kathryn just smirked with her arms crossed.

"Sorry, looks like the scrap collector's busy today," Edward said as he tossed the arm on top of the pile.

"Broken arm!" "We'll fix it cheap!" "We've got the best prices in town!" "We'll match any prices!" the hyenas shouted as they dragged him away.

"How'd he do that?" Winry whispered to Alphonse, knowing full well Kathryn wouldn't tell her the truth.

"Brother used alchemy to make his opponent's arm to a weaker substance. He did the transmutation under the table while you were yelling at him," he explained.

"That's cheating!" Winry said.

"I told him to do it. I just got hit on by an old pervert and needed to retaliate," Kathryn said giving a high-five to Edward.

"And breaking his nose wasn't enough?" he joked. "Nice punch, though. Looked like it hurt."

"That's what I was aiming for," she smiled back.

A man came up to them and pointed at their auto-mail. "I've never seen that style around here before."

People started to crowd around Edward. "Look at the intricacy of the metalwork…"

"I made it," Winry said.

"You do good work, Miss."

"So you put the cylinder over here…" "Hey, your leg is auto-mail too?" "Lemme see!" "I can't get a good look, just take off your pants kid!"

"Quit molesting my boyfriend!" Kathryn shouted.

"Hey! The girl's got auto-mail too!" "A girl with auto-mail?" "Show us your arm! How did you connect it to the body?" "Take off your shirt! We need to see where it connects!"

"What! NO!" Kathryn and Edward shouted.

* * *

"This town really is a Mecca for engineers. People are so dedicated to their work!" Winry said with a laugh.

"That's no reason to strip me to my underwear in public!" Edward shouted.

"Underwear? I don't have a top! It's no reason to let your sister get molested by a crowd in public!" Kathryn said as she covered her chest with her arms.

Edward began to blush furiously as he looked for their clothes. He tossed her her shirt and dressed in his pants with everyone's back turned to her.

"Brother, look at you. I bet there aren't many state alchemists who strut around main street in their underwear," Al laughed.

"How funny you should mention that, oh brother dear, seeing as you never wear anything but a loin cloth…" Edward shot back.

"It's not a loin cloth…" Al cried.

Ed started to hit his thighs in a panic. "Where is it?!"

"What's wrong?" Winry asked.

"My silver pocket watch, the very thing that proves I'm a state alchemist, is missing…"

Kathryn stiffened and looked at her pockets. She searched all of them, her watch wasn't there either. "Mine's missing too…"

After the had redressed in their coats, they headed over to a shop that belonged to one of the people examining their auto-mail to see if they saw anything.

"Sounds like the work of Paninya," the bald one said.

"She's a pickpocket who targets tourists," the other explained.

"WHAAAATTTT?!" they shouted.

"Do you know where we can find her? Those watches are extremely important to us," Edward asked desperately.

"Well, I can tell you. But in exchange… Let's take a look under that hood."

"Just a looky loo!" the bald one asked.

Ed and Kat changed their auto-mail into blades and pointed them at their heads.

"She's in the West Alley. Sells her spoils to the Glotz pawn shop," they replied with their hands raised.

"Heya pops," the girl said. She was about fifteen or sixteen, black, very tall. She wore a black tank, army pants, combat boots and had her hair up in a small ponytail.

"What's this? Another priceless item liberated from the undeserving?" the old man behind the counter asked from behind his newspaper. He set it down on the counter and turned in his chair to grab the items.

The girl handed him two silver watches.

"These are silver, beautifully crafted, intricately designed…" he said as he examined them.

"Aren't they? Take 'em off my hands for a good price," Paninya said.

"There's a name engraved on each of these… This one says, "Edward Elric". The other says, "Kathryn Rockbell". Where have I heard those names before? Then it has the military crest… with a six sided star. I don't remember what this version of he crest means. And this Edward fella's lid won't open."

Paninya grabbed it and tried to pry the lid off. "You're right. And the gear aren't moving on the inside…" she said as she put an ear to it. "Maybe it's a fake… I'll try winding it."

They burst through the door in time. "Don't wind it!" Edward shouted. "Don't open it either."

Kathryn walked through the door royally pissed. "You thought you could get away stealing from us? You've got another thing coming to ya."

"Uh oh…" Paninya said. She lifted a vase onto her foot. "Here you go buddy. Catch!" she said as she tossed it at Edward.

"That vase is worth 800 thousand sens!" the owner shouted.

Paninya ran to the window as he caught it. "Nice catch!"

Kathryn was already running for her when she hopped out the window to a near-by rooftop. "Grab my watch and follow on the ground! I'm going after her!" Kathryn shouted as she jumped out the window.

"That's her watch, and she'll kill a few people if I don't get it back. So can we have it and avoid unnecessary blood shed?" he asked.

The shop keep tossed it to him and they ran out the door. "Now I remember, he's the youngest state alchemist, and she was the first female state alchemist…"

"Get back here!" Kathryn shouted as they ran across a set of pipes. She was hot on Paninya's tail, but always behind.

"So persistent!" she shouted back.

They went through some steam and Edward came out from behind her and tried to grab her.

"Whoa! Where'd the girl go? Aw, who cares." She ducked under Al's arm as it came out of the steam. "You guys don't think you can catch me in my own backyard do you?"

"They can't," Kathryn shouted from the rooftop she was following them on. Paninya smirked and ducked into a large gush of steam. Kathryn jumped from the roof into the steam and an 'oof' was heard. When it cleared up, Kathryn had landed on an unsuspecting Paninya. "But I can…"

"I'm not giving up yet," she said as she kneed her in the gut, hard. She pushed Kathryn off her as she gasped and ran into the next alley over.

"Kat!" Edward shouted.  
"Dammit. She's got auto-mail." She stood and ran after her.

"A dead-end?" Paninya shouted.

"We've got her cornered!" Ed shouted.

"So you think, watch this," she replied as she jumped up to the top of the wall and vaulted herself over the wall.

"Is she an acrobat?"

Alphonse ran ahead and made a stair for Edward to jump up with himself. Kathryn growled as she sniffed the air. "Ed, watch out! There's a pit bull on the other side of that wall!" she shouted in warning as he went over.

Barking and screaming were heard from the other side. Kathryn jumped up over the wall and landed next to the dog who growled at her. She growled back ferociously and it ran to the corner to hide. Alphonse finished his door and came through the wall.

"Wait," she said, grabbing Edward's sleeve and pulling him back. "We can't keep this up. We need a plan."

"What do you have in mind?" Al asked.

Paninya sat on a roof top with the watch. She tried to open it again. "Still won't open… Maybe I should just break it open."

"I said not to open it!" Edward shouted from behind her.

"What, got a picture of your girlfriend in there you don't want me to see? Speaking of, where is she?" she asked glancing around worriedly. That girl was only one who had been able to keep a steady pace.

"It's none of your business what's in _my _watch. I sent her back with her sister, she was getting worn down. Now just give me back the watch, and we can forget this mess."

Paninya responded by pulling at her cheeks and sticking her tongue out at him. Edward's eye twitched as he slammed his palms together and pressed them to the ground. Large hands erupted from the ground.

"Neat trick. Just what are you?"

"I'm an alchemist," he replied threateningly.

Paninya jumped off the roof as the hands came down to crush her. She laughed as she pocketed the watch. "I've never played tag with an alchemist, this should be fun!"

"You won't get away!" Ed said as he clapped his hands and made a wall appear in front of her. "Now I've got-" Paninya kicked herself off the wall. Ed grabbed thin air. "you?"

She was about to land on his head when a black blur came out of nowhere and knocked her over. A large wolf growled from it's place on top of her. The wolf twitched it's ears as it heard the shink of metal. Paninya kneed the wolf in the left hind paw. The wolf yelped as it was kicked off of Paninya.

She replaced the blade in her auto-mail leg before running off again.

"Kat!" Ed shouted. He ran over as he pulled her necklace out of his pocket and clasped it around her neck.

She turned back to normal and let out a hiss of pain. "That bitch is dead now…" she said as she stood and ran after her.

"Don't push yourself!" Edward shouted running after her.

Winry looked through a portable telescope at Edward and Kathryn running after Paninya and making columns appear out of no where while she dodged them easily.

"She sure is coordinated," Winry said to Alphonse who was standing next to her.

"I'm not sure how coordinated Ed is, he tends to fall gracefully on his face. But Kathryn should be able to keep up with her," he replied.

"Are we sure they can get her over here?" she asked him.

"If anyone can do it, they can. I've never met anyone more stubborn than those two."

Kat and Ed sent columns flying Paninya's way, but she just moved around them like she was playing limbo.

"Stop. Moving. Would ya?" Ed shouted at her.

"You should give up kiddo, sounds like you're losing your breath."

"That's it!" he said as he slammed his hands on the roof they stopped on. Kathryn had fallen behind just a bit, giving herself a small beak from top speeds.

"What? Run out of ideas?"

"There's more to alchemy than making things appear out of no where. For example…"

Kathryn ran from behind him and jumped landing on Paninya. "We can make the ground you stand on a much weaker substance," she said as they fell and the ceiling cracked and fell through. They struggled on the ground as Edward came up and made a cage. He threw it down and hopped to the shop.

"I've got you-

"She got away…" Kathryn said from inside the bars. He fell on his face.

Paninya ran out of the shop to the street. She came face to face with Alphonse. He crossed on hand over the other as sparks flew around them. "I've been waiting for you.

Paninya then realised she had ran into a trap. A large circle with runes and a star was drawn on the ground and she watched as a large bird cage surrounded her.

"Nice job!" Winry complimented when it was finished.

Ed and Kat ran out of the shop and over to the cage. "You're gonna pay, woman!" Ed shouted.

"Brother, you're talking like a bad guy!"

Paninya tapped the bars with her knuckle. "Hmm… Stand back if you don't want to get hurt."

"Don't even think about trying to cut the bars with that blade concealed in your leg," Kathryn warned.

Paninya looked confused for a moment. The only one who knew about that was the wolf that attacked her. She became suspicious. "Fine then. I won't." a gunshot sounded as a blast went off a few feet from them. "I'll just use the 1.5 inch carbine in my other leg." She cut the bars with her leg and fled the scene.

"Two auto-mail legs? And she's that coordinated?" Ed asked.

"No time for questions! After her!" Kathryn shouted as she began to run.

"Hee hee! Catch me if you can!" she called after them.

She didn't see Winry ahead of her. Winry reached out and latched onto her wrist. "I'm not letting you get away."

"Way to go sis!"

"Nice catch Winry!"

"Don't let that little thief get away!"

"Of course I won't let her get away. Not until she lets me see that auto-mail up close!"

They tripped over themselves not even a foot away, Al's head rolled to Winry's feet, Ed pounded the ground with his fists and Kathryn's growl could be heard from ten feet away.


	25. Chapter 25

**IF ANYONE IS READING THIS I FUCKING LOVE YOU!**

**I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooo so so so sorry my darlings. I haven't been able to keep up with my posts because of school and I lent my friend my books because she is reading the series and I've been plotting the murder of the Netflix corporation because they took Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood off the site and me and a few of my friends are going to go on a murderous rampage. ALL VELCOMEN TO JOIN! (Threw in a bit of Swedish for ya)**

**So I will be writing as much as possible to get about six chapters out within the week. If I don't I'll end up adding another chapter to post so don't think it's the end of the world if I post in the middle of the week.**

**News and excitement? I have a job! OMG NOW WE KNOW THE WORLD IS ENDING! I just got finished with being sick (almost finished) (who hasn't) and now I'm begging forgiveness from my gorgeous readers for not posting! YAY!**

**If you guys didn't notice, I wrote another Katoy (Kathryn/Roy) fic called It Started With Ishbal. Pretty awesome. I was proud of it. Go check it out. **

**I also mentioned at the beginning ISWI that I want to know what you guys are picturing when I write. So I was wondering if any of my lovely, beautiful, totally awesome, talented followers could make some fanart for the story. I would die of happiness and then have my friend sacrifice her arm to bring my should back and bond it to a computer so I can keep writing this thing that doesn't seem to end in the near future...**

**I will seriously shut the fuck up so you guys can read because I know that's what you've been dying to do for the past six weeks...**

* * *

They sat around a fountain near the middle of town. Paninya's hands were tied together with Kathryn's belt, her pant legs rolled up as Winry examined her auto-mail and Kathryn watched over her shoulder.

"The suspension system is the most advanced I've ever seen. But over all, I find the balance between everything to be incredible…" Winry said. She continued to blab as Kathryn walked over to where Edward and Alphonse were sitting on the ground.

"Nice weather we're having…" Ed said.

"Sure is brother," Al said back.

Kathryn sat down and stretched out her legs with a wince.

Edward glanced over at her. "How's your leg?"

"Could have been worse. Depending on how well it heals, I think it shouldn't leave scar." She leaned in close to them. "Especially with Wolfy's help," she added in a whisper.

Winry looked over her shoulder when Ed mentioned Kathryn's leg. "What about your leg?" she asked as she stood and walked over to them.

"Uh…" Kathryn whispered.

Paninya perked up. _What happened to this girls leg? I know I cut that wolf... it's not possible they are the same person, is it?_

Winry stopped and looked at the large cut on the inside of her left leg that had finally stopped bleeding. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR LEG!"

"I uhh… I tripped," Kathryn replied.

"HOW DO YOU TRIP AND SLICE OPEN YOUR LEG LIKE THAT! THERE'S BLOOD EVERYWHERE!"

"Calm down, would you? I tripped on a loose shingle on one of the roofs and fell next to a pipe that could have gone through my entire leg, so be happy I got our like this…" she said standing up. She winced as the muscles stretched and reopened the wound.

Paninya knew she didn't trip on any shingles... This girl was too coördinated for it. She slouched and entered a deep thought.

"KATHRYN!" Winry shouted. She dragged her sister over to the fountain and washed off the wound and got most of the blood out of her pants. She then pulled some bandages from her pocket.

"Why do you have a roll of bandages in your pocket?" Kathryn asked.

"Because knowing you, you'll need them…" Winry said glaring at her sister before wrapping up her leg. Kathryn looked defeated as Winry finished with her leg before they stood up. "Paninya, I wanna know who made your auto-mail for you!"

She sat up when Winry turned her attention to her. "Um… Okay." She thought for a moment. "But he lives out in the middle of nowhere, you'll need a guide."

"Whaa!" Winry shouted.

"Don't worry, I'll be your guide. So long as you let me off the hook for picking their pockets."

"Deal!"

"WAIT A SECOND!" Edward and Kathryn shouted.

"That's not your decision, Winry!" Ed yelled at her. "We're turning her into the police!"

"It was just a harmless pick pocket! You sure have a small heart!"

"DON'T SAY SMALL!"

"That woman is a menace to this town!" he shouted.

"You're the one that broke the roof of my shop, right?" the shop owner from before asked.

"He messed up my rooftop too," another said.

"And broke my chimney."

"They traumatized my little Julie," a woman said holding the growling dog from before.

Edward went around the town, fixing the roofs and everything. Kathryn followed behind, making sure he did it correctly and apologizing for the damage.

After they repaired the damage, Edward was still fuming. "That changes nothing! I'm still gonna turn her over to the MPs!"

Winry was ignoring him. "So we'll leave our stuff here, then, if he lives that far away."

"LISTEN TO ME!"

"Edward, she's my sister, so stubbornness runs through the family. You won't get the answer you want out of her," Kathryn said patting him on the shoulder.

* * *

"You weren't kidding when you said he lives in the middle of nowhere…" Winry sighed. She wiped the sweat from her brow and looking over her shoulder to check on Kathryn. She was lagging behind, panting heavily. She had insisted on walking instead of someone carrying her.

"Yup. He says he can find better quality ore for his auto-mail out here, that's why he lives so far in the mountains. That, plus he doesn't want to live in town. Too many people. He's not really the friendly type," Paninya explained.

"Would you give me my watch back already?" Edward shouted.

"We made a deal, remember? I guide you to Dominic and you let me off the hook. I'm keeping this hostage until then," she said sweetly.

When Kathryn didn't even so much as growl, Ed glanced over his shoulder to see Kathryn leaning against the mountain.

"You guys go ahead. I'll catch up," he said before moving over to Kathryn. "You okay?"

"Internal fur isn't something I want when it's a hundred degrees out and I'm wearing black…" she chuckled. "My leg isn't helping either…"

"Still not healed yet?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. I can feel it trying, but it keeps reopening while I walk," she sighed.

Ed nodded his head in understanding. He turned around and crouched. "Get on, I'm carrying you."

"You don't have to-

"Too bad. Just get on."

Kathryn smiled and got on his back. He lifted her up, let her get situated before moving out back down the mountain path. He could feel Kathryn's panting and rapid heart beat as they walked. The shop was finally in sight, Winry, Alphonse, and Paninya were already there and waiting for them. Edward set Kathryn down as Paninya poked her head through the door.

"Howdy!" she shouted.

A man with glasses, a bandana, black shirt and blue jacket looked up from his work with a sigh. "Paninya, I don't know how you manage to come out here so often from town."

Paninya smiled and bounced into the house. "I brought some guests."

"Oh, do they want some auto-mail?" he asked moving out of the house to where they all stood. "You're so big!" he said looking at Al. "And he's so small…" he said then looking at Ed.

Kathryn held Edward back from fuming. "If you don't mind, a glass of water and some bandages would be fine to start with," she said with a smile.

He looked the group over once before settling on her leg, the blood seeping through the bandages. "YOU'RE BLEEDING!" he shouted.

"I realise this. And if you could get me some bandages I could stop the bleeding…" Kathryn told him.

He rushed into the house. "Is she okay?" a woman asked from the house.

"Heya, Satera! She's tougher than she looks, so I think he's overreacting."

Winry leaned over to Paninya. "I would think that someone who isn't a people person wouldn't react that way…" she said.

"Oh, that's not Dominic. That's his son, Ridel. That's his wife, Satera," Paninya explained.

They walked around back and sat down. Ridel came out with a basin of water and put it in front of Kathryn for her to soak her leg in, gave her some bandages and a cold glass of water which she gulped down greedily. She took off her bandages and let her leg sit in the cool water, she sighed in content.

Edward chuckled. "It takes little to please you."

"No, it takes little to please Wolfy, don't mix us up," she said with a happy sigh.

Paninya heard that and got suspicious. She watched as they glanced over at Winry worriedly, but relaxed when they saw she was out of earshot talking to Ridel. She would have to ask them what that was about. Paninya went inside to get Dominic.

"I've never heard of a girl your age being into auto-mail," Ridel commented.

Winry looked over at the three sitting by themselves and laughing. "I have my sister and her boyfriend to worry about, and they both need auto-mail. My parents and my grandma were auto-mail engineers so I grew up with it. Runs in the family."

Dominic came out of the house. He was an old man, looked grumpy with a frown on his face. He sat down next to Winry and Paninya and they went into a deep conversation about Panina's auto-mail. After Kathryn had rebandaged her leg they all stood around Satera. Ridel stood behind her with a proud smile on his face.

"A baby? Congratulations!" Edward said.

"The baby is due in about two weeks," Ridel said.

Satera chuckled. "I'm always so tired, the baby is so heavy!"

"Can I feel your tummy?" Edward asked.

Satera smiled and nodded. Ed placed his left hand on her tummy, Kathryn followed suit with reluctance. Edward laughed. "It's cool, but weird at the same time…" he said as they stood up. "That's the first time I've felt a pregnant lady's tummy."

**(A/N: What would you guys do if Kathryn piped up and said, actually no, cause you've touched mine. PREGGO KATHRYN PLOT TWIST I CONSIDERED IT BUT THEN SOMETHING WOULD HAPPEN TO THE BABY WHEN LATER THINGS HAPPEN SO NO BUT WHAT IF LEAVE A REVIEW IF YOU WOULD HAVE SPAZZED IF KATHRYN WAS PREGNANT!)**

"When you touch my tummy, please pray that the baby will be born healthy."

Kathryn smiled. "It's weird to think that we were in our mom's tummies like that, huh?" she asked.

Satera laced her fingers together and layed them over her stomach. "It's weird for me too. To think that there is another life growing in me."

"A baby stays in there for 200 days before being born. It's really a miracle, after 200 days, the baby just knows when to come out. Even though it's never been outside the womb, it just knows," Ridel explained.

"Eeeddddd, Kathrynnnnnnnn!" Winry called sweetly. "Come over here for a second!"

They immediately had a very sinking feeling.

* * *

They were in the house, sitting on a bench in Dominic's workshop. Ed only had his boxers on and Kathryn didn't have a shirt, but this time was allowed to wrap herself in a towel. That didn't keep her from blushing until she was the color of a tomato.

Dominic hit their auto-mail with a small hammer. "17% chrome, and 1% carbon, huh?"

"Yes, I want to increase the strength as well as make it lighter."

"I can understand why. Compared to their body size, it's too heavy. I can tell that she grew more before she got hers, so she might be okay for now. But in his case, there is too much strain on the user. It's not healthy. That may be the reason he's so small."

"DON'T CALL ME- Wait! Are you saying that if I get a lighter auto-mail I might get taller?" Edward asked enthusiastically.

"It's possible," was all Dominic said.

Edward floated off into a fantasy Kathryn wasn't sure she wanted to know about.

Winry nodded. "Okay. I've decided." She bowed. "DOMINIC, PLEASE MAKE ME YOUR APPRENTICE!"

"YEAH, RIGHT."

"Can't you at least take some time to think it over?"

"No way. I don't take apprentices."

"Forget about her. Why don't you whip me up some ultra light auto-mail that'll make me taller?" Edward asked.

"Forget it, bean sprout."

"BEAN?!"

"Pretty please Dominic!"

"I don't need an apprentice."

"Aw, come on. Don't say that!"

"Ed, put some pants on!" Kathryn shouted as she came out of a room with her shirt back on.

"B-BEAN SPROUT! HE CALLED ME A BEAN SPROUT!"

"Go home."

"Ed, shut up!"

"My dad is really stubborn. It's best to just give up," Ridel said with a pat on their shoulders.

"Go home," Dominic said with his arms crossed.

Ed watched Kathryn's ear twitch as she perked her head up and look to the left. "No chance of that. Storm's coming."

They all looked her way. Ed and Al were slowly starting to panic on the inside. She rubbed her shoulder. "Stump is aching. Always does it when a storm is close."

She glance over at Ed. He caught on quickly and rubbed his thigh. "Now that you mention it, yeah. Feels like a doosey."

Paninya was suspicious again. Her stumps only ached when a storm was going on right above her. She could never use it to predict a storm. And she was sure she saw Kat's ear twitch.

"You can stay here until the rain stops," Ridel said with a reassuring smile.

* * *

They sat in the main room, Paninya sat down on the bench and rubbed her legs. "I hate storms like these, make my stumps ache…" she sighed.

"If you don't mind my asking, why so you have auto-mail?" Winry asked her after a sip of her cocoa.

"I was in a train wreck when I was little. My parents died and I lost my legs. Poor and not being able to walk, I felt like it wasn't worth living. I sat in an alley by myself, no one helped. Dominic said I had the eyes of a dead person.

"Dominic scooped me up and fitted me with auto-mail legs, without any consent. The recovery process was slow and very painful. But, when I could finally stand on my own legs, I felt really happy. These legs give me hope.

"That's why I'm so grateful for Mr. Dominic. Of course, Mr. Ridel and Winry too. I like all auto-mail engineers, because they do so much for people, they give them their lives back."

Winry smiled and sipped her cocoa.

"I told Dominic I would pay for it, but he refused. Still, I had to find out, so I asked the doctor who had performed the surgery and he told that Mr. Dominic's auto-mail is really expensive. I nearly had a heart attack," Paninya said with a laugh.

"So you come out here to repay him?"

"Yup. He won't accept it though. He even does free maintenance. He leaves me speechless."

"Hey!" Winry shouted and got into Paninya's face. She widened her eyes in surprise. "If you really want to repay Mr. Dominic you should stop pick pocketing!"

Paninya pursed her lips. "But if I don't steal, how can I repay him?"

"Mr. Dominic gave you those legs out of the goodness of his heart. If you really want to pay him back, stand strong on the two legs he gave you. Don't use them as a way to quickly get away with trinkets you stole from people. Use those legs to do something good, and pay him back honestly!" Winry shouted at her. She was standing up, breathing hard after a good rant.

Paninya smiled and nodded her head before standing up and digging into her pocket. "You're right. I guess I should start by giving Ed his watch back." She tossed it in her hands. "He was really upset about it, and got really mad when I tried to open it…" She glanced at Winry. "Think it's a picture of his girlfriend?"

Winry shuddered uncontrollably at the thought of a picture Kathryn had given him. "No, Kathryn didn't give him any pictures… I'm positive about it." Winry took the watch from Paninya. "That rat, he sealed it with alchemy…" she said after a few tugs.

"What could it be, then, if he sealed it up so tight?"

Winry smirked. "I bet it's something he's too embarrassed about!" she said as she pulled out her various screw drivers and mini picks. She put the watch on the desk and started to work on it.

After a few minutes the lid popped open. She opened the lid and the looked inside.

Inside the lid, a date was scratched in with something. "Don't forget, October 3, year 11… A date?" Paninya asked.

Winry's mood had plummeted since she saw the lid. She shut the watch and rubbed her eyes. "Here, you should give this back to Ed."

"Winry, you okay?"

"Yeah." She turned around and stood up straight. "I'm going to ask Dominic to take me as his apprentice, one last time."

She left the room, stomping down the hallway, passing Kathryn who had been listening to the conversation. Winry came back running through the door.

"Ridel! It's Satera!"

They all ran into Satera's room. She lay on the ground, the food she carried sprayed on the floor.

They moved to her side. "Satera! What's wrong?" Ridel asked her.

"The… The bay…" she said weakly.

"What about a horse?" Paninya asked.

"The baby's coming," Satera growled.

They all panicked.

"The baby isn't due for another two weeks!" Ridel said.

"I haven't been feeling well this evening, but I passed it off because I knew it was too early as well."

Kathryn stood near the door, running through options in her head when Dominic burst through the door with Ed and Al in tow. "THE BABY IS COMING, MY GRANDCHILD IS GOING TO BE BORN! WHAT DO WE DO!"

"Can we all please just try to calm down…" Satera growled.

Dominic looked out the window. "We won't be able to get her to the doctor in this weather," he said as her threw on his rain coat. "I'll bring the doctor here." He went outside and hopped on one of the horses.

"Dad, be carefull!" Ridel called after him.

Ridel came back in the house and moved to Satera's side. "Hang on, okay? Dad's going to get the doctor."

"I can try as much as I want, but the baby will get here when he gets here."

"R-relax, okay? Dad'll bring the doctor."

A large crack of thunder sounded through the house. Kathryn jumped noticeably and Edward latched their hands together, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Everyone just stay calm…" he said, but his voice wavered.

"You're right. Everything will be fine," Winry reassured them.

Dominic came through the door, thoroughly soaked. "The bridge…"

* * *

Winry, Alphonse, Kathryn, and Edward followed Dominic out to the bridge they had crossed to get there.

Kathryn knew what had happened before they could even see the bridge, the smell of burning wood floating her way. "No," she whispered before running over to it.

They caught up to her, she made her way around the disintegrated arch of the rope bridge.

She looked over to them with grave eyes. "Lightning strike…"

"What do we do?" Winry asked.

Edward clapped his hands.

"Ed, you know it won't work!" Kathryn shouted at him.

"The least I can do is try! Some help would be appreciated."

She sighed and stood next to him. They clapped their hands and slammed them to the ground. A platform extended out from where the crouched.

"Build a bridge!" Winry exclaimed.

"Come on!" Edward shouted as it continued forward.

Kathryn looked sadly at the ground as the bridge cracked and fell apart into the water below. It didn't even make it half way.

"What happened?" Dominic asked.

"I told you…" Kathryn said as she rubbed Ed's back. He punched the ground.

"What happened? Why did they stop?" Winry asked.

Alphonse thought for a moment before he came upon the same answer Kat did. "It got too heavy. It needed too much."

"This gorge is too big. If we were to make a bridge that could support itself on the way over, the cliff would crumble where we stand. Supports would wash away before we could even finish making them," Kathryn explained.

"There's got to be something…" Winry whispered.

"There's no time for this… The lightning out here is dangerous for you, and Satera needs a doctor. There's an old mountain road that leads to town, but it's going to take longer to get there." Dominic hopped onto his horse. "Go back and comfort her, and tell them I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Damn it… What's the point. State alchemist, human weapon… WHAT'S THE POINT OF BEING A DOG OF THE MILITARY IF I CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO HELP WHEN IT MATTERS MOST!" Edward shouted angrily.

They went back to the house. When they got through the door, Paninya came running up to them. "Help! Satera just started bleeding lots of water!"

"Water?" Kathryn asked with a glance at Winry.

"Her water broke…"

"WHAT! Is that bad I mean something broke!" Edward panicked.

Kathryn started going through options again as Winry replied, "It means the baby is ready to be born."

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO! THE DOCTOR WON'T GET HERE IN TIME!"

Kathryn flinched at a loud clap of thunder. She looked over at Winry, who looked back at her with wide eyes. "You know what you have to do."

"Kathryn… I ca-

"I don't want to hear you say that. We know it has to be you."

"I can't do it. Why can't you!"

Another clap of thunder, louder than the last shook the house. Kathryn jumped and started shaking. She held out her quivering hands to her sister. "I won't be able to do anything in this condition. It has to be you. I'll help with anything I can."

Winry saw that her sister was right. She grabbed Paninya by the collar and Al's hair. Kathryn latched onto Edward's braid and pulled him to a stop. "Ridel! We need you in here!" she called.

* * *

"You can't be serious!"

"They've given this a lot of thought. We can't do anything about it… I think they're more stubborn than your dad," Edward said, rubbing the back of his sore head.

"Do you have any experience?"

"None what-so-ever."

"But-

"Ridel, this isn't the time to argue. You're wife needs to give birth, and this is the best we've got," Kathryn snapped.

Winry put on an apron and carried a wet towel for Satera. "With everyone's help, I will deliver the baby."


End file.
